Firsi catch your 




O JSCY O 




tor^/ /*^» cook it 




Class __1^-ZM 
Book_:-C_ljt 
Copyright ]^°_- 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr. 



Books and My Food 

Original Recipes with Literary Quo- 
tations for Every Day in the year 



By 

Elisabeth Luther Gary 
and Annie M. Jones 



^ 



New Tork 

Moffat, Yard ^ Company 

1906 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two CoDies Received 

APR 6 1905 

^. Copyrizht Entry . 

CUtSSCV ^Xc.No, 
' COPY B. 






Copyright, 1908, by 

MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY, N, Y. 

Copyright, 1904, by 

BLISABETH I^UTHER CARY 



J. F. TAPLET CO. 
PRINTERS AND BINDERS 
NEW VORK. 



PREFACE 

IT is impossible to read English 
novels without realizing how im- 
portant a part food plays in the 
mental as in the physical life of the 
Englishman. The sentimental Anglo- 
Saxon soul goes out to its roast beef 
and pudding, to its port and ale, with 
much the same greeting it gives to its 
blue violets and Devon cowslips. The 
associations that cluster about especial 
dishes are not lightly to be dismissed. 
Perhaps no writer of another nation 
could have produced a poem difficult for 
the least emotional to read without tears, 
the theme of which should be a favorite 
soup at a famous restaurant. And if 
some of us have inherited from tran- 
scendental ancestors a species of con- 
tempt toward this gross and material 
affection for the food that gives us life, 
shares our nationality, and is the inti- 
mate of cur homes, we may profitably 
remember the spirit of domesticity and 



hospitality which makes such an affec- 
tion possible. It was before Emerson's 
second and longer visit to England that 
he wrote against our being the "friends 
of our friend's buttons." Before he re- 
turned from that memorable second visit 
he wrote to his wife that if an English- 
man were to visit her she must build a 
fire in the guest room and give him 
bread and wine at bedtime, for should 
an Englishman go cold, he said, it would 
chill his own bones, and, should he be 
hungry, he himself would be hungry all 
his life, so great had been the hospital- 
ity of the English toward him. 

In making up this collection of recipes 
suggested by quotations chiefly from 
English novelists and poets, our idea 
has been not to provide Bohemian fare 
for our readers, or give them unfamiliar 
and unrelishable diet, but to show what a 
varied list might be gathered from the 
works of well-known writers, of dishes 
most of them equally well-known, and 
all of them good if properly prepared. 
The recipes for the more characteris- 
tically English cookery are taken from 
English sources. One little cook-book, 
undated, but apparently more than a 
century old, has furnished some excellent 
recipes, not one of which has failed in the 
trying. 

vi 



We cannot do better than send out this 
resuh of what may seem to the serious- 
minded a somewhat whimsical effort to 
combine intellectual and bodily susten- 
ance, with Stevenson's envoy to "Under- 
woods." 

" Go, little book, and wish to all 
Flowers in the garden, meat in the hall." 

Elizabeth Luther Gary. 



JANUARY 1ST 

'• The wedding-cake, which had been a great dis- 
tress to him, was all eaten up. His own stomach 
could bear nothing rich, and he could never believe 
other people to be different than himself." — Jane 
Austen ("Emma"). 

ALTHOUGH wedding-cake can 
hardly be recommended to in- 
valids, I once heard of its cur- 
ing a severe attack of indigestion, a 
statement the verification of which I 
leave to the skeptical. The following 
rule has descended from generation to 
generation of a long-lived family : 

Twelve eggs, one pound of butter, 
one pound of flour, one pound of 
citron, three pounds of raisins, three 
pounds of currants, a pound and a half 
of brown sugar, a pint of molasses, half 
a pint of brandy, a teaspoonful of sal- 
eratus, one ounce of mace, one ounce 
of cinnamon, half an ounce of cloves, 
a quarter of an ounce of allspice, two 
grated nutmegs. Cook four hours in 
a slow oven, covering the top with 
paper after the first hour. 



JANUARY 2D 

"Lobster patties, rissoles, and two things with 
French names." — Charles READE("It Is Never 
Too Late To Mend "). 

LOBSTER alone is good, but 
lobster with mushrooms is the 
perfect union of harmonious 
flavors. Cut the lobster meat into 
small pieces (do not chop it). Cut six 
large mushrooms into quarters. Dust 
them with paprika and salt, and pour 
on them a glass of sherry. Make a 
rich cream sauce of butter, flour, and 
cream (not milk). After it thickens, 
put in the pieces of lobster and mush- 
room, and pour in the sherry from which 
they have been taken, after they have 
cooked half an hour in the cream sauce. 
Do not allow the mixture to boil after 
adding the sherry. Pour it into hot 
patty shells and serve at once. 



JANUARY 3D 

"That vin de madere which accompanied the po- 
tage k la bisque would have contented an American. " 
— Lord Lytton ("Parisians"). 

FOR an oyster bisque that would 
content even a Parisian, add to 
a quart of chicken stock a stalk 
of celery, an onion, and a dozen clams. 



Cook until the celery is very tender, 
then strain and add to the stock a pint 
of milk and a pint of cream, both heat- 
ed. Thicken with a tablespoonful of 
butter and two of flour rubbed to- 
gether, and season with salt and pa- 
prika. Ten minutes before serving add 
thirty-five oysters and let them merely 
cook through. 



JANUARY 4TH 

"Well, that is intelligible," said Lady Selina Far- 
rell, looking at her neighbor, as she crumbled her din- 
ner-roll. — Mrs. Humphry Ward ("Marcella"). 

DINNER-ROLLS are made as 
follows : Add to a pint of milk, 
scalded and cooled, a tablespoon- 
ful of melted butter, a teaspoonful 
of salt, half a cake of compressed 
yeast dissolved in a very little lukewarm 
water, and six cups of flour. Mix into 
a sponge and cover. When light, pull 
off pieces about the size of a large egg, 
knead each of these into a smooth ball, 
then roll between the palms of the 
hands into a long roll about the size 
of a finger. Place close together in a 
biscuit pan and when light bake fifteen 
minutes in a hot oven. 



JANUARY 5TH 

"Dost think because thou art virtuous there 
shall be no more cakes and ale?" — Shakespeare 
("Twelfth Night"). 

FOR good little nut-cakes cream 
half a cupful of butter and a cup 
and a half of sugar ; add the yolks 
of two eggs and beat all together. Sift 
two cupfuls of flour into which has been 
stirred a teaspoonful and a half of bak- 
ing powder. Add to the butter, sugar, 
and eggs a cupful of milk, and then 
the flour. At the last stir in a cupful of 
chopped pecan or hickory nuts, and 
fold in lightly the whites of the eggs, 
beaten to a stiff froth. Bake in patty 
pan, ice and sprinkle chopped nuts 
thickly over the icing. 



JANUARY 6th 

" Said he, ' Upon this dainty cod 
How bravely I shall sup.' " 

—Hood (" Poems "). 

CROQUETTES of salt codfish are 
a pleasant variation of the fa- 
miliar codfish cake. Make a thick 
cream sauce. Stir into it a pound of 
salt codfish shredded with the fingers 
after it has soaked two hours in warm 
4 



water. Add a dash of red pepper. Do 
not cook the fish and the sauce, but allow 
the mixture to get cold and firm. Then 
shape into croquettes, dip each in beaten 
eggs, then in fine cracker-crumbs, and 
fry in very hot fat. 



JANUARY 7TH 

" Do daily soups 
Your dinners introduce ? " — Gay. 

THE stand-by for soup is a simple 
consomme which may be multi- 
tudinously varied. Cut up two 
pounds of lean raw meat, beef or veal, 
and add a cupful of cold roast beef cut 
in pieces. Put over the fire with a 
cracked knuckle of veal, four quarts of 
cold water, two onions, one carrot, two 
stalks of celery, six peppercorns, a 
spoonful of salt, six cloves, and a few 
herbs. Cook slowly all day. Strain and 
when cold skim off the fat. Add the 
white and shell of two eggs. Bring to 
a boil and boil ten minutes. Strain 
through a cloth. 



JANUARY 8th 

"Mrs. Elton was growing impatient to name the 
day, and settle with Mr. Weston as to pigeon-pies 
and cold lamb." — Jane Austen ("Emma"). 

FOR an excellent pigeon-pie for a 
small family singe and draw three 
birds, split them down the back, 
wipe with a clean cloth, but do not wash. 
Fry half a dozen slices of salt pork and 
brown the pigeons in the pork-fat. Then 
put them into a deep baking-dish, slice 
a small onion, brown in the hot fat and 
add a pint of stock and a tablespoonful 
of flour. Stir until slightly thick, then 
strain over the pigeons. Cover them 
tightly and cook for two hours in a 
moderate oven. Remove the cover and 
replace it with one of pie-crust. Bake 
until brown. 



JANUARY 9TH 
"The mxishrooms show his wit." — Pope. 

FOR the large, highly-flavored and 
substantial mushrooms there is no 
better way of cooking than to 
broil them. Carefully wash, peel, and 
dry the mushrooms ; pour over them a 
little melted butter, not hot, and put 
6 



them on ice for twenty minutes. When 
chilled, broil upon an oyster broiler, first 
on one side and then turn. About ten 
minutes should be sufficient to cook 
them. Serve upon delicately toasted 
bread ; season the last thing with salt 
and pepper, a few drops of lemon- juice, 
and a bit of butter on each mushroom. 



JANUARY lOTH 

"Mrs. Alexander Trott sat down to a fried sole, 
maintenon cutlet, Madeira, and sundries."— Charles 
Dickens ("Sketches by Boz"). 

IF you ask for sole in the American 
market you will get flounder ; but 
the mode of preparation is the same 
for both. To fry the fish acceptably, 
first scrape it, cut off the head and fins, 
wash in cold water, and wipe dry. 
Sprinkle with salt, dip twice in beaten 
egg and bread-crumbs, and fry brown 
in boiling lard or dripping. Serve with 
it on a separate dish a mayonnaise dress- 
ing in which a tablespoonful of capers 
has been stirred. For frying fish a pan 
of deep fat and a frying basket are de- 
sirable. Butter should not be used, and 
oil is better than lard or drippings. 

7 



JANUARY iiTH 

"Of all the dishes that the ingenuity of man has 
invented, the truffled turkey or capon is the most 
delicious. On this point there is no difference of 
opinion." — Dr. Austin Flint ("Essays")- 

DR. FLINT has not only given 
the weight of his authority to 
truffled turkey as a gastronomic 
dehcacy, but has given a valuable sug- 
gestion as to its preparation. "It is not 
sufficient merely to fill a turkey with 
truffles and cook it," he says, "the art 
is to disseminate the flavor throughout 
the muscular tissue of the bird. The 
truffles should be of the best quality; 
they should be carefully prepared and 
seasoned ; and the bird should be stuffed 
for days before it is cooked. In this 
way the truffle has a fair chance." He 
further adds that so admirable a dish 
as the wild turkey of this country, 
truffe, should be complimented by hav- 
ing the preceding dishes arranged with 
special reference to it, that the palate 
may not be cloyed with ordinary flavors 
before reaching it. 



JANUARY I2TH 

"An olive, capers, or some better salad." — Ben 

JONSON. 

NOTHING is better than celery 
salad. Cut fine white celery into 
lengths of an inch and a half or 
two inches, splitting the ends, so that, 
when thrown into ice-water for half an 
hour they will curl back ; when ready to 
use mix with the celery a large table- 
spoon of mayonnaise dressing, heap 
lightly in a salad-bowl and put over the 
top more of the mayonnaise through 
which has been stirred a tablespoonful 
of capers. A border of stoned olives or 
pimolas is not only an attractive garnish, 
but an improvement to the flavor. 



JANUARY 13TH 

"Butter ill melted — that commonest of kitchen 
failures — puts me beside my tenor." — Charles 
Lamb. 

MELTED butter, or "Butter 
Sauce" for fish is made by melt- 
ing in a saucepan one table- 
spoonful of good butter, and as it melts 
stirring in the same quantity of flour. 
When thoroughly blended pour in a 
9 



cup of boiling water. Season with a 
saltspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper, 
a few drops of onion-juice, a pinch of 
made English mustard, a teaspoonful 
each of capers and minced cucumber 
pickle, and finally add slowly a well 
beaten egg. As soon as the egg is all 
in, take from the fire. 



JANUARY 14TH 

"There was a large, substantial, cold boiled leg 
of mutton, at the bottom of the table, shaking like 
blanc-mange." — Charles Dickens ("Sketches by 
Boz"). 

FOR chocolate blanc-mange take 
half a package of gelatine dis- 
solved in a cupful of cold water, stir 
into it a pint of hot milk (half milk and 
half cream is better), and a scant half 
cup of sugar; add four heaping table- 
spoonfuls of chocolate rubbed smooth 
with a little milk. Stir over the fire 
until the mixture is about to boil ; when 
nearly cold flavor with a teaspoonful 
of vanilla and turn into a mould wet 
with cold water. A boiled custard or 
whipped cream served with this is a 
decided improvement. 



JANUARY 15TH 

"A little strong gravy soup lubricated and gela- 
tinized with a little tapioca." — Charles Reade 
("It Is Never Too Late To Mend"). 

IF you have three-quarters of an 
hour's notice to make an emergency 
soup you can have one answering 
the above description. Cook in a quart 
of boiHng water a cupful of pearl tap- 
ioca ; dissolve in a cup of hot water half 
a dozen bouillon capsules or an equal 
amount of beef extract ; strain and add 
to the tapioca with a cupful of canned 
tomatoes, a little chopped onion ; season 
rather highly ; put into the tureen small 
squares of bread browned in the oven. 
Some cooks also put into the tureen a 
well-beaten egg and on this pour the 
hot soup. 

JANUARY i6th 

"Then came a dish of meat — nature unknown, but 
supposed to be miscellaneous — singularly chopped 
up with crumbs of bread, seasoned uniquely though 
not unpleasantly, and baked in a mould." — Char- 
lotte Bronte ("Shirley"). 

AN old way of making "English 
meat pie" is to take finely chopped 
cold beef, put in a deep baking 
dish a layer of the meat, strew lightly 



with bread-crumbs, season highly witH 
salt, pepper, butter, and a few drops of 
onion-juice; repeat the process till the 
dish is full or your meat used up. Pour 
over it a cup of stock or gravy, or, lack- 
ing these, hot water with a teaspoonful 
of butter melted in it ; on top a good 
layer of bread-crumbs should be put, 
seasoned and dotted with butter. Cover 
and bake half an hour ; remove the cover 
and brown. 



JANUARY 17TH 

"At this moment Mrs. Hayes' servant appeared 
with a smoking dish of bacon and greens." — Thack- 
eray ("Catherine")- 

A NOVEL but very desirable vari- 
ation on the old dish of bacon 
and greens is often served in one 
household to the approval of family and 
guest. Carefully prepare and cook 
spinach in the usual way, season it with 
salt, pepper, and two or three table- 
spoonfuls of cream, or rather less of but- 
ter, after you have drained and chopped 
it. Fry very crisp thin slices of bacon 
and lay thickly over the dish of spin- 
ach. The combination is appetizing. 



JANUARY i8th 

"Old Stella placed a cold fowl upon the table, 
and followed with a savory omelette." — Haw- 
thorne ("The Marble Faun"). 

FOR a winter morning there is no 
better omelette than one made 
savory with sausage, which should 
be partly cooked, skinned, if the sausage 
links are used, and minced fine. Then 
break and lightly beat to six eggs. Have 
a small tablespoonful of butter hot in 
a pan, slip in the eggs, shake gently in 
one direction. When set add the minced 
sausage ; fold the omelette and serve 
without delay. 



JANUARY 19TH 

"At the top a fried liver and bacon were seen, 
At the bottom was tripe in swinging tureen." 

— Goldsmith. 

DIP thin slices of bacon in ice- 
water, then put in a hot pan ; 
when it begins to curl add two 
or three slices of onion and cook two 
or three minutes longer, being careful 
that the bacon does not get too hard. 
Take out the bacon and keep hot ; re- 
move the onion from the pan and lay 

13 



in the slices of liver which have been 
seasoned with salt and pepper and 
dredged with flour ; cook rather slowly 
till brown and tender. Too rapid cook- 
ing dries and hardens it. Lay the liver 
on a dish with the bacon, stir into the 
gravy a tablespoonful of butter rubbed 
to as much brown flour ; season with 
tomato catsup or stewed tomatoes. Pour 
over the liver. 



JANUARY 20TH 

"It was he who proposed the bowl of punch, 
which was brewed and drunk in Mrs. Betty's room, 
and which Gumbo concocted with exquisite skill." 
— Thackeray ("The Virginians"). 

FOR rum punch take two large 
fresh lemons with rough skins 
and some lumps of sugar. Rub 
the sugar over the lemons until it has 
absorbed all the yellow part of the skins. 
Then put into the bowl these lumps and 
as many more as the lemons will prob- 
ably require. Squeeze the lemon- juice 
on the sugar, and blend sugar and juice 
thoroughly together. Much of the ex- 
cellence of the punch depends upon the 
mixing processes being well performed. 
Add two quarts of boiling water and 
stir until almost cool. Then add from 

14 



one pint to one quart of rum as tfie 
punch is desired weak or strong. Mix 
again very thoroughly. 



JANUARY 2IST 

"Bless the girls! a nice fresh steak was frizzling 
on the gridiron for our supper." — Thackeray 
("The Fatal Boots"). 

USE a hip-bone steak. Have the 
bone cut entirely out, and the 
steak pressed together to form a 
round slice. It should be at least two 
inches thick. Cook over a clear fire 
seven minutes to a side. This will give 
a very rare steak. When done place on 
a hot platter and cut three or four deep 
gashes in one side. Fill the gashes with 
a dressing made of four teaspoonfuls 
of French mustard, two or three drops 
of tabasco sauce, a small teaspoonful of 
salt, and butter the size of an egg. Do 
this quickly that the steak may not have 
time to cool, and send to the table at 
once. 



IS 



JANUARY 22D 

"Leek to the Welsh, to Dutchmen butter's dear, 
Of Irish swains potato is the cheer." 

— Gay ("Poem"). 

NO "Irish swain," but a clever 
Frenchman invented the potato 
souffle. To a well-beaten cupful 
of mashed potato add the yolks of three 
eggs, thoroughly beaten ; season with 
salt and pepper and a tablespoonful of 
melted butter. Whip in slowly a cup 
of milk, or half milk and half cream, 
and finally the frothed whites of the 
eggs. Put into a baking-dish and cover 
till it rises well, then remove the cover 
and brown. Serve at once or it will 
fall. 



JANUARY 23D 

"Take the nuts from the fire with the dog's foot." 

— Taylor. 

TO blanch and salt almonds put 
them into boiling water and let 
them stand five minutes ; then 
throw them into cold water and rub off 
the loosened skin. Put in a bowl, allow- 
ing to each cupful of nuts a tablespoon- 
ful of olive-oil or melted butter. Stir 
16 



the almonds that they may be well 
coated ; let them stand for an hour, then 
sprinkle with salt, a dessertspoonful for 
each cupful of the nuts ; spread on a 
baking-pan and put into a moderately 
hot oven. Let them cook for about fif- 
teen minutes, stirring several times that 
they may brown evenly. Take them out 
when they are a delicate brown. 



JANUARY 24TH 

"I never was much of an oyster eater, nor can I 
relish them in naturalibus as some do, but require 
a quantity of sauces, lemons, cayenne peppers, 
bread and butter, and so forth, to render them 
palatable." — Thackeray ("The Fitzboodle Pa- 
pers"). 

MANY people accustomed to the 
ordinary oyster of commerce se- 
cretly agree with Thackeray, 
hence the popularity of the oyster cock- 
tail. The "sauces, peppers, and so 
forth," are frequently overdone, how- 
ever, a simple mixture bringing out the 
flavor of the oyster instead of destroy- 
ing it. The following is acceptable to a 
moderately initiated palate : 

To six oysters add the juice of half 
a lemon, two drops of tabasco-sauce, 
two teaspoonfuls of home-made catsup, 
17 



and the oyster- juice. Place the mixture 
where it will be thoroughly chilled, but 
do not put ice into it. Some people like 
a teaspoonful of horse-radish added, but 
this coarsens the flavor. 



JANUARY 25TH 

"Wo'ld ye have fresh cheese and cream?" — 
Herrick ("Poems"). 

AN old-fashioned method of serv- 
ing pot-cheese still obtains in one 
family where ancient traditions 
are still held in special honor. 

Mix a pot-cheese with rich cream 
enough to make it soft, add to it a table- 
spoonful of chopped Spanish onion. 
Season with a liberal sprinkling of red 
pepper and eat sans peur et sans re- 
proche. 

JANUARY 26th 

"There were great round, pot-bellied baskets 
of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly 
old gentlemen." — Charles Dickens ("Christmas 
Carol"). 

TO make the peculiarly luscious 
dessert known as nesselrode 
pudding you must boil three cup- 
fuls of these jolly old gentlemen; 
18 



when tender remove their shells and 
brown skins and mash them into a pulp. 
Cut a pound of French candied fruit 
into small pieces and pour over them a 
glassful of sherry. Mix a cupful of 
water with two cupfuls of sugar and 
boil fifteen minutes. Into this syrup stir 
the beaten yolks of four eggs. Return 
it to the fire and let it reach the boiling 
point, then remove and beat it until it 
is cold. Add a pint of whipped cream, 
the nuts, fruit and wine and a teaspoon- 
ful of vanilla. Freeze in an ice-cream 
freezer, then pack and leave for two or 
three hours. 

JANUARY 27TH 

"Bearing, in one hand, a most enormous sand- 
wich, while in the other he supported a goodly- 
sized case bottle, to both of which he applied him- 
self with intense relish." — Charles Dickens 
"Pickwick Papers"). 

A "CLUB SANDWICH" has a 
roystering sound to the feminine 
ear, but in reality its composition 
is of the daintiest : Two thin slices of 
delicately browned toast ; between them 
a thin slice of carefully broiled ham, the 
fat crisp and brown ; a thicker slice from 
the breast of chicken, and a lettuce-leaf 
touched with mayonnaise. 

19 



JANUARY 28th 

" Among the viands were expected to be found 
a small assortment of cheese-cakes and tarts." — 
Charlotte Bronte ("Shirley"). 

FOR cheese-cakes make a pie-crust 
of half a cup of butter, two cups 
of flour and a tablespoonful of ice- 
water. Roll out very thin, rolling into 
the dough half a cup of grated cheese, 
preferably old English ; cut into fancy 
shapes, sprinkle with grated cheese and 
bake in a quick oven till a delicate 
brown. 



JANUARY 29TH 

" 'Hippocrates and Galen,' he cried, "tis a soupe 
au vin, — the restorative of restoratives.' " — Charles 
Reade ("The Cloister and the Hearth"). 

FOR a soupe au vin it is only 
necessary to take a good con- 
somme and when ready to heat 
for use put in it a dozen whole cloves, 
as many whole allspice and a few pieces 
of cinnamon tied in a thin muslin bag. 
When ready to pour into the tureen re- 
move the spice-bag and add a cupful of 
port or Madeira wine. If neither of 
these wines is at hand, sherry will an- 
swer, though not quite as good for the 
purpose. 

20 



JANUARY 30TH 

"Feed him with apricots and dewberries, with 
purple grapes, green figs." — Shakespeare ("Mid- 
summer Night's Dream"). 

FOR a delicate fig pudding, choose 
good pulled figs, soak over night 
in enough claret to cover them; 
in the morning simmer gently on the 
side of the range, adding enough claret 
to take the place of that absorbed by 
the figs, sweeten very slightly ; let them 
cook till the skins are tender, set away 
to cool and serve covered with whipped 
cream sweetened and flavored with 
sherry. A few candied cherries on the 
cream add both to the flavor and ap- 
pearance of this good and unusual des- 
sert, but are not necessary. 



JANUARY 31ST 

"Simplicity talks of pies." — Willis ("Love in a 
Cottage"). 

A RICH lemon-pie sadly unfitted 
for a cottage income is made by 
creaming half a pound of butter 
with a pound of sugar, beating in the 
yolks of six eggs, the juice and grated 
peel of two lemons, a gill of brandy, and 
21 



the whites of four eggs previously 
whipped stiff. Bake with a bottom crust 
only. When done cover with a me- 
ringue made of the whites of two eggs, 
two tablespoonfuls of sugar and a little 
lemon-juice. Return to the oven until 
the meringue is a very light brown. 
Eat cold the day it is baked. 



FEBRUARY ist 

"Well saffroned was that barley soup." — Robert 
Browning (" Ferishtah's Fancies "). 

BOIL two pounds of lean veal in 
one quart of water, add to it one 
quarter of a pound of pearl barley 
and boil until it can be rubbed through 
a sieve, add a quart of warm milk or 
white stock, bring to the boiling point, 
season with salt and serve. This is a 
very nourishing soup or puree. 



FEBRUARY 2d 

"Now if you're ready, Oysters, dear, we can begin 
to feed!" — Lewis Carroll ("Through the Looking 
Glass"). 

TO prepare oysters for frying, 
choose small, fat ones of good 
flavor in place of those larger and 
more tasteless. Drain, wipe, and dip 

22 



each one in highly seasoned cracker- 
crumbs, then in beaten egg and again in 
the crumbs. Set away for an hour or 
more in a cold place. Fry a few at a 
time, in boiling lard. 



FEBRUARY 30 

" A pair of boiled fowls.- with tongue and et 
ceteras, were displayed at the top, and a fillet 
of veal at the bottom." — Charles Dickens 
(" Sketches by Boz ")• 

FOR fricasseed chicken cut two 
fowls into joints. Season them 
with salt and pepper and dip each 
one in flour. Put them in a saucepan 
and cover with boiling water. Let them 
cook very gently for about two hours, 
or until very tender. When they are 
done put three tablespoonfuls of butter 
in a frying-pan, add the same amount 
of flour, rub smooth, then add the water 
in which the chickens have been boiled, 
which should not amount to more than 
a quart. After the gravy has boiled up 
add a cup of rich cream and season with 
salt, white pepper, and a little cayenne. 
Just before removing from the fire add 
an egg well beaten. Pour over the 
chicken, which should be laid on toast 
or soda biscuits cut in half. 
23 



FEBRUARY 4th 

"'Tom,' said Maggie, as they sat on the boughs 
of the elder-tree, eating their jam puffs, 'shall you 
run away to-morrow?'" — George Eliot ("Mill on 
the Floss "). 

PUFF-PASTE, that bugbear of the 
inexperienced cook, is in reahty 
easy of accompHshment. Chop 
three-quarters of a cup of butter into 
a pint of sifted flour, having the ingre- 
dients and the chopping-bowl thorough- 
ly chilled. Pour in half a cup of ice- 
water and mix with the chopping-knife 
to a stiff paste. Turn out on a floured 
pastry-board and roll quickly into a thin 
sheet. Dredge with flour, dot with lard, 
fold in three thicknesses and roll out 
again. Repeat the process three times, 
then set the sheet of paste in the ice- 
box near the ice over night. In the 
morning divide it into as many pieces 
as you wish to have pies and roll each 
piece to fit the pie-plate. For "J^ni 
Puffs" fill with jam after baking. 



24 



FEBRUARY 5th 

"We have five eggs. No meat for you, dear, 
but enough bread and butter, some honey and 
plenty of coffee." — George Meredith ("The 
Amazing Marriage"). 

BOILED eggs with cream sauce 
make an excellent breakfast dish. 
Boil the eggs hard ; remove the 
shell and cut in halves ; put in a warm 
covered dish and pour over them a 
sauce made by heating a cupful and a 
half of milk (part cream is better), stir- 
ring into it two tablespoonfuls of butter 
and one of flour rubbed together; sea- 
son with salt and paprika and cook for 
ten minutes, until thick and smooth. A 
teaspoonful of curry powder added to 
the sauce is an improvement or a piece 
of onion cooked in the butter may be 
used as a flavoring. 



FEBRUARY 6th 

" That gentleman had in his hand a cabbage. He 
was proving to the farmer that this plant is more 
nutritious than the potato." — Charles Reade 
("Clouds and Sunshine"). 

IF the gentleman had argued thus of 
cauliflower, which has been called a 
"cabbage with a college education," 
he would have been quite correct, for 
25 



in cultivation the cauliflower has gained 
in nutritive importance. Boil in salted 
hot water till tender, but not soft. Di- 
vide the "flowers," put in a buttered 
dish a layer of the cauliflower seasoned 
with salt, pepper and butter, then a 
sprinkling of grated cheese and one of 
bread-crumbs. Moisten with milk each 
layer, end with a layer of dry bread- 
crumbs liberally dotted with butter. 
Cover and bake for half an hour, then 
remove the cover and brown. 



FEBRUARY yrs. 

"The mustard is too hot a little." — Shakespeare 
("Taming of the Shrew"). 

FOR those who find the English 
mustard moistened simply with 
vinegar too hot and crude, a very 
pleasant condiment may be made by rub- 
bing into two tablespoonfuls of the 
ground mustard a tablespoonful of olive- 
oil, a saltspoonful each of celery salt and 
black pepper, a teaspoonful each of salt 
and sugar, and enough vinegar to make 
it of the right consistency to pour. For 
some tastes, it is an improvement to rub 
the bowl in which the ingredients are 
mixed with onion or garlic. 
26 



FEBRUARY 8th 

"Betty Jay scented the boiling of Squire Cass's 
hams." — George Eliot ("Silas Marner"). 

THE rules for the simplest dishes 
are often the hardest to find in 
cook-books. The right way to 
boil a ham is simplicity itself. Soak the 
ham all night after scrubbing it hard 
with a stiff brush kept for the purpose. 
Boil in a soup "digester" if possible, as 
such a vessel admits of cooking at a 
slow, even temperature. Start it in cold 
w^ater, and after it comes to the boiling 
point put the kettle back where it will 
simmer gently. Fifteen minutes to a 
pound is the length of time usually given 
for the boiling, but an eight-pound ham 
really requires at least four hours of slow 
boiling to reach the perfection of tender- 
ness. When it is done either allow it to 
stand twenty-four hours in the water be- 
fore skinning it, or skin it as soon as it 
is cooked, sprinkle it over with brown 
sugar, stick into it a few whole cloves 
at sparse intervals and bake in a hot 
oven until nicely brown. Serve with 
a champagne-sauce, which is merely a 
good brown sauce flavored with a glass 
of champagne. It is delicious to eat hot. 



27 



FEBRUARY qth 

"The venosta ran on hi praise of Paris and the 
Parisians, of Louirer and his soiree and the pis- 
tachio ice." — Lord Lytton ("Parisians"). 

A SIMPLE ice-cream is made of 
one quart of cream, half a pint (or 
more) of milk, one cup of sugar, 
and a tablespoonful of vanilla extract. 
Scald the cream and milk, add the sugar 
and when cold, the flavoring, one-half 
cup of pistachio nuts and a quarter of 
a cup of almonds, blanched, chopped and 
pounded to a paste. Freeze. 



FEBRUARY ioth 

" Set your mind on curly fat rashers of bacon and 
sweetly smelling coffee, toast, hot cakes, marma- 
lade and damson jam." — George Meredith 
("The Egoist"). 

VERY good and quickly made hot 
cakes are prepared by beating one 
egg very light, stirring in a cup- 
ful of flour, half a cupful of milk and 
two tablespoonfuls of sugar, beating 
them briskly till light and then stirring 
in quickly a good teaspoonful of baking- 
powder. Bake in muffin tins for twenty 
minutes in a quick oven. This will be 
enough for half a dozen muffins. 
28 



FEBRUARY iith 

"What had ye till your dinner?" 
"I forget." 
"A choep likely?" 

"I think it was." — Charles Reade ("Peg Wof- 
fington"). 

WHEN the broiler is unavail- 
able and the chafing-dish or 
frying-pan must serve your 
need for cooking chops, you will feel no 
regrets if you heat the pan very hot, then 
put in a lump of butter, about a table- 
spoonful for four chops ; when the but- 
ter is melted add the chops, nicely 
trimmed ; cover and cook two minutes, 
turn them, season with salt and butter, 
and when they are a light golden brown 
they are done to perfection. This will 
be in four or five minutes. 



FEBRUARY I2th 

"And salmon — perhaps salmon is next to the 
flounder. ' ' — Thackeray. 

A SALMON-LOAF is a "dressy" 
dish to set before a lunch party, 
and may be made the preceding 
day. Pick cold salmon into flakes, mix 
two cupfuls with the yolks of two hard- 
boiled eggs, a tablespoonful of minced 

29 



parsley, two of lemon-juice, and one of 
capers. Season highly. Pour a cupful 
of veal or chicken stock (heated) over 
half a box of gelatine ; stir in the fish. 
Decorate a buttered mould with slices 
of egg and olives, pour in the mixture 
and let it get perfectly cold. Garnish 
with lettuce-leaves. 



FEBRUARY 13TH 

"Moore eats like three men; they are always mak- 
ing sago or tapioca or something good for him." — 
Charlotte Bronte ("Shirley")- 

TO make a delicious sago-cream 
soak a cupful of sago in two 
cups of cold water till it takes 
up all the water. Scald a quart of milk 
and stir the sago into it. Remove from 
the fire to do it. When almost cold 
beat it all up from the bottom, stir in 
two tablespoonfuls of sugar creamed 
with one of butter and the yolks of five 
eggs. When well mixed add the 
whipped whites of the eggs. Pour into 
small moulds, bake and eat cold with 
soft custard or wine sauce. 



30 



FEBRUARY 14TH 

"The Last of Lent was spunging upon Shrovetide's 
pancakes." — Charles Lamb. , 



f-p 



O make the regular Shrovetide 
■ pancakes soak in a quart of milk 
M two cupfuls of dry bread-crumbs, 
free from crusts ; when the crumbs are 
thoroughly moistened beat in three eggs 
whipped light, a tablespoonful of melted 
butter, a teaspoonful of salt, and a table- 
spoonful of sugar. When well mixed 
stir in half a cupful of twice-sifted flour 
in which is mixed half a teaspoonful of 
baking-powder. Cook on a hot, lightly 
greased griddle and serve with butter 
and sugar and ground cinnamon. 



FEBRUARY 15TH 

" First catch your clams ; along the ebbing edges 
Of saline coves you'll find the precious wedges." 
— W. A. Crofful. 

FOR a delicate but very good clam- 
chowder take one pint of clam- 
juice, forty clams chopped very 
fine, eight potatoes, peeled, parboiled, 
and chopped into coarse pieces ; two 
small onions, sliced ; one quart of toma- 
toes; cook all together for three hours,, 
31 



then add half a cup of butter and a cup 
of flour rubbed together, and a quart of 
milk. Cook half an hour longer. The 
addition of a bunch of celery, chopped 
fine, improves the flavor. 

This makes a large quantity, and half 
the amounts given will be enough for 
eight persons. 



FEBRUARY i6th 

"I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that 
docs harm to my wit." — Shakespeare ("Twelfth 
Night"). 

MOST English people are great 
eaters of beef and cook it in a 
large variety of ways. A beef- 
steak pie is better known across the water 
than here. It should be made of cold 
broiled beefsteak cut in thin slices across 
the grain. If any bit of the outside is 
burned, discard it, as it will make the 
whole dish bitter. Sprinkle the pieces 
of beef with flour, pepper, and salt, add 
a chopped onion and two cupfuls of 
gravy made of melted butter, flour and 
water (the flour rubbed smoothly into 
the butter and boiling water added). 
Bake in a pudding-dish with a biscuit- 
crust. 

32 



FEBRUARY 17TH 

"My lord, I hope you are pepper proof." — Swift. 

CUT off the stem ends of sweet 
green peppers and remove the 
seeds. Stuff with a mince of tongue, 
veal, chicken, or lamb, mixed with an 
equal quantity of bread-crumbs, and sea- 
soned with salt, butter, and a bit of onion- 
juice or tomato. Put the peppers close 
enough together in baking-dish so that 
they will stand upright. Cover the bot- 
tom of the dish with stock, or water en- 
riched with a large spoonful of butter. 
Cook in a moderate oven for an hour. 
Remove and add flour and butter to the 
liquid in the pan. Pour over the peppers 
and serve. 

FEBRUARY i8th 

"There is a physiognomical character in the 
taste for food. C — holds that a man cannot 
have a pure mind who refuses apple-dumplings." 
— Charles Lamb. 

TO make boiled apple-dumplings 
pare tart apples of good flavor 
and remove the cores ; fill the 
holes with butter, sugar, and a little cin- 
namon. Have ready a dough made of 
two tablespoonfuls of butter chopped into 
33 



a quart of sifted flour, in which has been 
well mixed a heaping teaspoonful of bak- 
ing-powder and a little salt ; wet with two 
cupfuls of milk, to make a soft dough, 
and roll to a thickness of a quarter of an 
inch. Cut into squares large enough to 
readily encase the apples ; put an apple 
in each and fold together, pinching the 
edges tight. Tie up in small cloths, not 
too tight, and boil an hour, never al- 
lowing the water to stop boiling. 



FEBRUARY iqth 

"The greengrocer and his wife then arranged 
upon the table a boiled leg of mutton, hot, with 
caper sauce, turnips and potatoes." — Charles 
Dickens ("Pickwick Papers"). 

WITH turnips and boiled leg of 
mutton it is well to serve a 
dish of browned potatoes. Cut 
into strips of convenient size six cold 
mashed potatoes. Dip first into melted 
butter and then into beaten egg. Lay the 
strips carefully in a buttered pan ; cook 
in a hot oven for twelve minutes. 



34 



FEBRUARY 2oth 

"I had to eat boiled mutton every day: enire 
nous, I abominated it. But I never complained. 
I sv/allowed it." — Thackeray ("Roundabout Pa- 
pers "). 

IF mutton must be boiled it should be 
served rare. Put it into a kettle of 
water that is boiling hard, and cook 
fast for fifteen minutes to keep the juices 
in the meat. Then draw the kettle to 
one side of the range and let the con- 
tents cook slowly ten minutes to the 
pound of meat. Add to the liquor a 
stalk of celer}', a minced onion, a sprig 
of parsley, chopped, a sprig of mint, and 
a carrot. When the meat is taken up 
it should be washed over with butter. 
Strain the stock, season with salt and 
pepper, thicken with flour, stir in a lump 
of butter and a tablespoonful of capers, 
and serve as gravy. 

FEBRUARY 2ist 

"Some bring a capon, some a rurall cake, 
Some nuts, some apples; some that thinke they 

make 
The better cheeses, bring 'hem." — Ben Jonson. 

NUTS and cheese have recently 
become a favorite combination. 
Form cream cheese into small 
balls and press half a walnut-meat on 
35 



each side, first seasoning the cheese with 
a Httle paprika or with chopped green 
pepper. Arrange the balls on lettuce- 
leaves or else on the tender white cen- 
tral leaves of the chicory-plant. Gar- 
nish with shredded red peppers and 
olives, and pour a French dressing over 
all. 

FEBRUARY 220 

"She sent him for a pie she professed to have 
fallen in love with at the corner of the street." — 
Charles Reade ("Peg Woffington"). 

ONE of the several kinds of cake 
known as "Washington pie" is 
made by creaming together half 
a cupful of butter and two cupfuls of 
sugar, adding the beaten yolks of four 
eggs and a cupful of water, beating well 
together and stirring in three cupfuls of 
flour in which has been mixed two tea- 
spoonfuls of baking-powder. At the last 
flavor with the grated rind of a lemon 
and a little nutmeg and fold in the whites 
of the eggs. Bake in layers. Put to- 
gether with a filling made of the yolk of 
an egg beaten up with a cupful of sugar, 
the grated peel and juice of a lemon, and 
three tart apples, grated. Cook in a 
double boiler till scalding hot, stirring 
36 



constantly. When cold put between the 
layers of cake. It is excellent eaten 
fresh. 

FEBRUARY 230 

"Give him three ratafias soaked in a dessert- 
spoonful of cream." — George Eliot ("Mill on the 
Floss"). 

RATAFIA is a cordial made by 
blanching two ounces of peach 
and apricot kernels, bruising 
them and putting them in a bottle with 
a pint of brandy. Set it aside for a 
month, then remove the kernels and add 
a cup of cold water in which has been 
dissolved half a pound of sugar, strain 
through a cloth and seal. George Eliot's 
little ratafias are no doubt named for 
the custom of dipping macaroons or other 
small cakes in this liqueur and serving 
them with custard. 

FEBRUARY 24TH 

" By the way, we had half-a-dozen sardines while 
the dinner was getting ready, eating them with de- 
licious bread and butter." — Thackeray ("Memo- 
rials of Gormandising"). 

A PARTICULARLY delicious 
method of preparing sardines is 
to rub half a dozen of them to a 
paste with the yolks of three hard-boiled 



eggs. Season with lemon-juice. Place 
on squares of delicately toasted white 
bread, garnishing with watercress, which 
is the best of green salads to eat with 
sardines. 

FEBRUARY 25TH 

"So long as there's pickled pork in the kitchen, 
they'll look in." — Charles Reade ("Propria Quae 
Maribus"). 

FOR the occasions when an old- 
fashioned breakfast of fried mush 
is in demand, with its traditional 
accompaniment of fried pork, cut the 
slices of fat pork very thin ; pour hot 
water over them, drain, plunge in ice- 
water for a couple of minutes and fry 
in a hot pan till crisp ; or they may be 
rolled in egg and crumbs and fried in 
deep fat. 

FEBRUARY 26th 

" It was a memorable feast. I had soup, fish, meat 
and pastry, and, for the first time in my life, a glass of 
wine." — George Meredith ("Harry Richmond"). 

TO convert the commonplace cod- 
fish or halibut steak into a rather 
distinguished dish, the New Or- 
leans method is to fry the steaks in oil, 
or part butter and part lard ; before they 
38 



are quite done take them out and add to 
the gravy in the pan two tablespoonfuls 
of flour, one of Worcestershire sauce, 
some ground cloves, nutmeg, half an 
onion, minced, and a little thyme. Strain 
into it also half a pint of stewed to- 
matoes ; stir well, and when thoroughly 
blended put in the fish and cook all to- 
gether for three or four minutes and 
serve immediately. 



FEBRUARY 27TH 

" If you will but speak the word, I will make you 
a good Syllabub." — Walton ("Complete Angler"). 

THE famous syllabub of Walton's 
native Staffordshire was a lusty 
English product as different from 
our airy nothings as were his simple 
rods and lines from the modern equip- 
ment of fancy rods and magnificent flies. 
It was made by putting into a bowl a 
pint of cider and a glass of brandy, a 
little nutmeg and sugar, and then pour- 
ing into it from some height a pint of 
warm milk. 



39 



FEBRUARY 28th 

"Give him a sugar-plum if he is good." — Char- 
lotte Bronte ("Shirley"). 

AN easy and very good "sugar- 
plum" to make at home requires 
one can of sweet condensed milk, 
one and a half cupfuls of brown sugar, 
a large tablespoonful of butter, a tea- 
spoonful of vanilla and half a pound of 
English walnuts. Boil twenty minutes, 
stirring steadily ; pour on buttered plates 
and when nearly cold cut in squares. 



MARCH 1ST 

"At private houses what does one get now? 
— blanc de poulel — flavourless trash!" — Bulwer 
("Parisians"). 

POT AGE a la Reine, which is one 
form of the despised " blanc de 
poulet," is sufficiently delicious for 
any festival occasion. Remove the fat 
from a quart of chicken-broth ; season 
with salt, pepper, and a little onion, and 
put on to boil. Soak in a little milk half 
a small loaf of bread-crumbs and mix 
with them the yolks of three hard-boiled 
eggs, mash smooth, chop the white meat 
of a boiled chicken to a powder and 
stir it into the bread-crumbs and eggs. 



Stir in slowly one pint of hot cream and 
mix with the hot chicken-broth. Boil 
five minutes ; if too thick add more 
cream ; if not thick enough, more crumbs. 
The white meat of cold roast chicken may 
be used. 

MARCH 2D 

"Turbot with capers is the thing. The brisk 
little capers relieve the dulness of the turbot; the 
meUed butter is rich, bland and cahn." — Thack- 
eray ("Memorials of Gormandising"). 

THIS fish is fortunate in being the 
better for keeping a day or so, 
when so many kinds of fish need 
absolute freshness to make them pala- 
table. Soak the turbot in salted water for 
at least half an hour before cooking, put 
it into a pan of boiling water in which 
are the juice of two lemons and two ta- 
blespoonfuls of salt. Put the black side 
of the fish down when the water begins 
to boil, skim and set back where it 
will only simmer for half an hour. 
At the end of that time drain it care- 
fully, place on a platter covered with 
a napkin, garnish with parsley, lemon 
and hard-boiled eggs and serve with 
white sauce to which capers have been 
added. A six-pound turbot is a good 
size. 

41 



MARCH 3D 

"Here's a pigeon so finely roasted, it cries, Come, 
eat me!" — Swift ("Polite Conversation"). 

IT is only a very tender pigeon which 
can be confident of its roasted charms, 
but the right bird is deHcious so 
cooked. Draw, wash and wipe ; pepper 
and salt the insides ; tie into shape or 
fasten with skewers ; wrap the birds with 
slices of fat bacon or salt pork, and put 
in the pan with half a cup of hot water 
to which a teaspoonful of butter has 
been added. Cook for fifteen minutes 
before removing the bacon, then rub 
with lemon- juice and butter and brown. 
Put the pigeons where they will keep 
hot while you stir into the gravy a table- 
spoonful of butter rubbed into one of 
browned flour. Boil up once. 



MARCH 4TH 

"Some cheeses are made of skimmed milk and 
some o' new milk, and it's no matter what you call 
'em, you may tell which is which by the look and 
the smell." — George Eliot ("Adam Bede"). 

TO make fresh pot-cheese place in 
rather a shallow pan milk that 
has turned a little sour, put it 
over a sauce-pan of boiling water and 
42 



heat almost to the boiling point. After 
about six minutes turn the milk over by 
spoonfuls, to heat it all equally. When 
heated through, turn into a collander to 
drain ; when free of whey, add salt to 
taste and butter. A few spoonfuls of 
cream improves it. 



MARCH 5TH 

"Thy child as surely grasps an orange as he fails 
to grasp the sun." — Robert Browning ("Ferish- 
tah's Fancies "). 

PARE sweet seedless oranges, take 
off the inner tough white covering 
and divide into sections. Add to 
the beaten whites of two eggs two table- 
spoonfuls of cold water. Dip the sec- 
tions of orange in it and then roll each 
one in granulated sugar. Put on a plat- 
ter the sections, not touching; set in a 
warm oven for three or four minutes, 
then set away to cool. 



43 



MARCH 6th 

"Presently, we were aware of an odour gradu- 
ally coming towards us, something musky, fiery, 
savoury, mysterious, — a hot drowsy smell, that 
lulls the senses, and yet enflames them, — the truffles 
were coming." — Thackeray ("Memorials of Gor- 
mandising"). 

IF I remember rightly, Thackeray 
was in France when he wrote of 
truffles. Certainly in no other coun- 
try do they correspond to his descrip- 
tion. The way to realize a faint remi- 
niscence of the reality is to buy a can of 
French pate de foie gras of the best make 
procurable, spread the contents on thin 
strips of toasted bread, and eat them as 
gaily as the occasion warrants. Do not 
insult the memory Thackeray has en- 
shrined by pretending that the canned 
truffle of the grocery is the delicacy to 
which he refers. 



MARCH 7TH 

"For Miss Barker had ordered all sorts of good 
things for supper — scalloped oysters, potted lob- 
sters, jelly, a dish called ' little Cupids. ' " — Gaskell 
("Cranford"). 

SCALLOPED oysters are somewhat 
uncertain unless a good rule is 
carefully followed. This one has 
always produced admirable results. 

44 



Drain the oysters and do not use the 
liquor. Cover the bottom of a buttered 
dish with a layer of oysters, place on 
this a layer of fine bread-crumbs (not 
cracker-crumbs), over which dabs of 
butter and plenty of salt and pepper have 
been strewn. Then another layer of 
oysters, until the dish is full, with a 
layer of crumbs on top. Moisten with 
a cup of milk, slightly thickened. Bake 
half an hour. 

MARCH 8th 

"Well, eat and be thankful! " says the Little Sister, 
who was as gay as a little sister could be, and who 
had prepared a beautiful bread sauce for the fowl." 
— Thackeray ("The Adventures of Philip"). 

TIE a chicken that has been cleaned 
but not stuffed into a piece of 
cheese-cloth. Plunge it into a 
kettle of boiling water to which a table- 
spoonful of vinegar has been added. Let 
it simmer until tender — twenty minutes 
to the pound ought to be enough. Un- 
wrap and serve with bread-sauce. 

Rule for sauce : Pour a quart of hot 
milk in which an onion has been boiled 
tender, over two cupfuls of stale white 
bread (grated). Let it stand an hour, 
then turn the mixture into a sauce-pan, 
add butter the size of an egg mixed with 

45 



two tablespoonfuls of flour, boil for five 
minutes, season with salt and pepper. 

MARCH 9TH 

"It was Mrs. Gill as I have seen her, making 
custards in the heat of summer in the cool dairy, 
with rose-trees and nasturtiums about the latticed 
window, preparing a cold collation for the rectors 
— preserves and 'dulcet creams.'" — Charlotte 
Bronte ("Shirley"). 

" "■"^V ULCET creams," warranted to 
I 1 please the most fastidious of 

J Erectors, are made with two 

dozen almonds, blanched and pounded 
and boiled in a little milk, the yolks of 
five eggs beaten well, a wine-glass of the 
best brandy, a teacupful of sugar and a 
quart of cream. Set over the fire and 
bring to the boiling point, stirring until 
it thickens, pour into glass cups and serve 
cold. 

MARCH lOTH 

"On the plain household bread his eye did not 
dwell; but he surveyed with favor some currant 
tea-cakes, and condescended to make choice of 
one." — Charlotte Bronte ("Shirley"). 

CURRANT jumbles still give de- 
Hght to children (and to grown- 
up children as well), as an ac- 
companiment to a cup of afternoon tea. 



Beat a cupful of butter to a cream, then 
beat in two cupfuls of sugar and add 
two well beaten eggs, and, finally, three 
scant cupfuls of flour in which have 
been stirred two heaping teaspoonfuls of 
baking-powder and half a teaspoonful of 
salt. The dough should be stiff enough 
to roll thin. Sprinkle the tops of the 
jumbles with currants and peanuts 
chopped fine and a little granulated 
sugar. Ten minutes in the oven is gen- 
erally enough to bake them. 



MARCH iiTH 

"Give cherries in time of year, or apricots; and 
say they were sent you from the country." — Ben 

JONSON. 

FROZEN apricots can be given any 
time of year by using fruit that 
has been canned or preserved. Cut 
in very small pieces one can of apricots, 
add a quart of water and two cups of 
sugar and freeze. When partly frozen 
add two-thirds of a cup of cream, 
whipped to lightness. Stir into the apri- 
cot and finish freezing. If the apricots 
used are preserved, less sugar will be 
needed, but all frozen desserts need more 
sugar than unfrozen ones. 

47 



MARCH I2TH 

"If you are hungry, can't you be content with 
the wholesome roots of the earth?" — Sheridan 
("The Duenna")- 

FEW people realize the excellent 
flavor of celery-root. Cut it 
in thin slices and boil for about 
two hours, or until tender. Serve with 
a cream sauce. It will have a much 
stronger flavor than the stalk of the cel- 
ery, and possesses even more valuable at- 
tributes as the calmer of irritated nerves. 



MARCH 13TH 

"The pie dishes were now drawn out of the ashes 
and broken, and the meat baked with all its juices 
was greedily devoured. ' It tastes like a rabbit. ' " 
— Charles Reade ("It Is Never Too Late To 
Mend"). 

ADD to one pound of lean chopped 
beef one-quarter of a pound of 
bacon ; season highly with salt 
and pepper, and, if the flavor is liked, 
with one teaspoonful of minced onion ; 
stir into it a beaten egg, and form into 
a long roll. Incase in a shell of buttered 
paper and place in a pan ; cover closely 
the whole with a thick paste of corn- 
meal. Bake three-quarters of an hour; 
48 



remove the paste and serve. If it does 
not taste like a rabbit it will at least 
taste much better than an inferior cut 
of steak, which costs nearly twice as 
much. 



MARCH 14TH 

"Twice meat was forbidden and twice pudding 
allowed." — Mrs. Humphry Ward (" Marcella "). 

AN excellent rule for custard pud- 
ding is this : beat until very light 
the yolks of six eggs and seven 
tablespoonfuls of sugar. Pour slowly on 
them a quart of hot milk, in which is a 
small pinch of salt ; fill buttered custard- 
cups with the mixture, set in a pan of 
hot water and bake until set, then draw 
to the door of the oven and quickly dot 
the surface of each custard with currant- 
jelly, raspberry-jam or other favorite 
and convenient substitute ; cover with a 
meringue made of the whites of three 
eggs and a tablespoonful and a half of 
powdered sugar. Brown lightly. 



49 



MARCH 15TH 

"Better a crust of black bread than a mountain 
of paper confections." — Arthur Hugh Clough 
("The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich"). 

OLD-TIME New England brown 
bread is almost as sweet and 
nutty as a confection. To make 
it, sift two cupfuls of rye flour, two cup- 
fuls of Indian meal, two teaspoonfuls of 
salt and one of soda, dissolved in a little 
hot water. Mix into a white bread 
sponge that is already light and add 
gradually half a cup of molasses. Knead 
well and leave six or seven hours. Then 
knead into loaves and let rise for two 
hours longer. Bake three hours in a 
slow oven. 

MARCH i6th 

"Papa was great at lobster salads and taught 
me. I mixed it myself a fortnight ago, and, as you 
see, it is as fresh and sweet as if I had just made it." 
— George du Maurier ("Peter Ibbetson"). 

A BOILED salad dressing that 
does keep "fresh and sweet" for 
a fortnight is made by adding 
three tablespoonfuls of vinegar to the 
beaten yolks of three eggs, heating in 
a double-boiler and stirring until stiff. 
On removing from the fire stir in two 
50 



tablespoon fuls of butter, mixing thor- 
oughly. Season when cold with salt, 
mustard, and cayenne, and thin with 
olive-oil to the desired consistency. Keep 
in a cool place. 

MARCH 17TH 

" For the first course at the top, a pig, and pruin- 
sauce." — Goldsmith ("She Stoops to Conquer"). 

PRUNES, to be eaten with meat, 
should not be sweetened. Soak 
a pound of carefully washed prunes 
in cold water over night. Put them into 
a stew-pan with a quart of fresh water, 
and two lemons that have been cut into 
thin slices, from which the seeds have 
been removed. Let them simmer gently 
for three hours. Serve cold. They are 
to be eaten with pork, veal or duck, in 
place of the sour apple-sauce usually 
served. 

MARCH i8th 

"Shall we pay respect to this haunch, Mr. Quin?" 
— Charles Reade ("Peg WoflSngton"). 

A HAUNCH of mutton cooked 
with care gives a change from 
the leg and chops which are the 
usual winter resource. It should not be 

SI 



used till it has hung some time. Rub it 
well with vinegar several times the day 
before cooking it, when it should be cov- 
ered with a thick paste of flour and 
water and cooked in a very slow oven 
for several hours. Three-quarters of an 
hour before eating it the paste should be 
removed and the mutton basted often. 
There will not be much gravy in the 
roasting-pan, so a brown or stock gravy 
should be made to serve with it. This 
should give a juicy roast. Currant jelly 
should be passed with roast mutton. 



MARCH 19TH 

"Dear Mrs. B — Chops and tomato-sauce. 
Yours, Pickwick." — Charles Dickens ("Pick- 
wick Papers"). 

TOMATO-SAUCE with more 
flavor than that usually served 
with chops is made by adding to 
one quart of canned tomatoes a chopped 
onion fried in a little butter and two cup- 
fuls of strong brown soup, highly sea- 
soned with salt and pepper. Cook for 
three hours on the side of the range. 
Strain through a puree-sieve. Return 
to the stove and thicken with a table- 
spoonful of flour rubbed into an equal 
quantity of butter. 

52 



MARCH 20TH 

"The meat o' the meal folk made some fifty years 
ago." — Browning ("Fifine at the Fair"). 

THIS is one of Browning's ab- 
struse utterances which we might 
refer to the Browning Societies. 
In the meantime we may assume that 
meat o' the meal is plain flour, and may 
be used in making a flour-soup, which is 
better than its name sounds. Brown a 
tablespoonful of flour in the same quan- 
tity of melted butter. Pour into it a 
pint of milk and bring to the boil. Sea- 
son with salt, red-pepper and parsley. 
After taking it from the fire stir through 
it the beaten yolk of an egg. A tea- 
spoonful of onion-juice may be added if 
liked. 



MARCH 2 1 ST 

"Do you put cayenne into your cream-tarts in 
India, sir?" — ^Thackeray ("Vanity Fair"). 

CAYENNE cannot be recommend- 
ed as a flavoring for cream-tarts, 
but preserved ginger can be. 
Bake in round patty-pans a plain pie- 
crust dough till a light golden brown. 
When cold pour into the pie-crust shells 
a cream made by stirring into a cup and 
53 



a half of boiling milk two-thirds of a 
cup of sugar, two eggs, beaten lightly, 
whites and yolks together, and two table- 
spoonfuls of flour, made smooth with 
cold milk ; a pinch of salt should be 
added when the cream has cooked for 
fifteen minutes and two tablespoonfuls 
of preserved or candied ginger, chopped 
fine. Put on each tart a small round of 
the pastry. 

MARCH 22D 

"Mrs. Bates, let me propose your venturing on 
one of these eggs. An egg boiled very soft is not 
unwholesome. Serle understands boiling an egg 
better than anybody . . . you need not be 
afraid, they are very small, you see — one of our 
small eggs will not hurt you." — Jane Austen 
("Emma"). 

EVEN Mr. Woodhouse would have 
found eggs boiled in the following 
manner wholesome. "Serle" her- 
self could not have improved upon it. 
Cover the eggs with boiling water, al- 
low them to boil one minute, then move 
back to where the water remains at the 
boiling point but does not actually sim- 
mer. In five minutes remove from the 
fire, when the whites and yolks will be 
cooked to a jelly-like consistency, but 
not hardened. 

54 



MARCH 23D 

"And, Frances, lass, I brought some cresses in: 
Just wash them, toast the bacon, break some eggs." 
— Jean Ingelow ("Poems"). 

BACON may be very delicately pre- 
pared for an invalid (or a well 
person!) by chilling in iced- water 
before broiling over a brisk fire. When 
partly cooked remove quickly from the 
fire, plunge the pieces again in iced- 
water, shake the water off and return 
to the broiler. Serve very hot, with 
cresses fresh from the brook and you 
have a dainty rural breakfast. 



MARCH 24TH 

"I eat my apples, relish what is ripe." — Robert 
Browning ("Ferishtah's Fancies"). 

INTO a tablespoonful of hot butter 
stir two tablespoonfuls of flour, and 
when it begins to thicken pour in two 
cupfuls of scalded milk in which has 
been dissolved a quarter of a teaspoonful 
of soda ; stir for two minutes and add 
the yolks of four eggs, beaten light ; 
then stir in six large pippins, pared and 
grated, and, when they have been well 
mixed, the whites of the eggs, beaten 
55. 



stiff. Half fill buttered custard or popover 
cups, set in a pan of hot water and bake 
in a quick oven until they puff up and 
are sufficiently brown. Open the oven 
door and let them dry for a couple of 
minutes. Brandy or lemon-sauce should 
be served with them. 



MARCH 25TH 

"There were ruddy, brown-faced, broad-girthed 
Spanish onions, shining in the fatness of their 
growth hke Spanish friars." — Charles Dickens 
("Christmas Carol"). 

PEEL and parboil Spanish onions 
for a few minutes ; drain and let 
them stand till quite cold. Take 
out the centre from each and stuff with 
a mixture of finely chopped cold meat, 
ham, chicken or veal, and one-third as 
much fine bread-crumbs. Season with 
salt, paprika, and bits of butter. Set the 
onions close together in a dish with a 
little stock, or gravy. Sprinkle well with 
bread-crumbs and bake about half an 
hour. 



56 



MARCH 26th 

"Patties of lobster and almonds mixed." — 
Charles Reade ("The Cloister and the Hearth")- 

FILL puff paste patty shells with a 
mixture compounded of two cup- 
fuls of lobster cut in small pieces 
and a half cupful of blanched and 
chopped almonds, stirred into two cup- 
fuls of cream, to which has been added 
the beaten yolks of two eggs and a glass 
of sherry. Let the cream, eggs, and wine 
cook together in a sauce-pan over boiling 
water until the cream begins to thicken ; 
season with half a teaspoonful of salt 
and a little paprika, add the lobster and 
nuts, boil, then fill the patty shells. Al- 
mond-meal may be used to thicken the 
cream, in place of the nuts. 



MARCH 27TH 

"My good old Aunt, who never parted from me 
at the end of a holiday without stuffing a sweet- 
meat or some nice thing into my pocket, had dis- 
missed me one evening with a smoking plum-cake 
fresh from the oven." — Charles Lamb ("Essays 
of Elia"). 

« A SMOKING plum-cake," such 
/\ as boys like, is no more than 
J_ ^ a soft ginger-bread with rai- 
sins stirred in. Make as follows : Mix 

57 



a batter of one cupful of butter, one cup- 
ful of New Orleans molasses, one cup- 
ful of sugar, one cupful of sour milk 
or buttermilk, one teaspoonful of soda, 
dissolved in a little boiling water, a ta- 
blespoonful of ground ginger, a tea- 
spoonful of cinnamon, two eggs and 
about five cupfuls of flour ; reserve one 
cupful of flour to dredge two cupfuls of 
seeded raisins to be added at the last. 
Bake in a moderate oven, thirty to forty 
minutes. 



MARCH 28th 

"Gerard took out his pudding and found it de- 
licious." — Charles Reade ("The Cloister and the 
Hearth"). 

« y^^ ERARD'S brown-bread 
■ -_. pudding" is made with half a 
V._^ pound of stale brown bread, 
grated, the same amount of currants and 
raisins, four eggs, half a pound of shred- 
ded suet, a gill of cream, a cup of sugar, 
a teaspoonful of nutmeg and a small 
glassful of brandy. Boil in a floured 
cloth one hour. This is a very light and 
delicate pudding, by reason of omitting 
the flour, usually considered necessary. 



58 



MARCH 29TH 

" 'Art is very well,' said Mr. Brandon, ' but with 
such pretty natural objects before you I wonder 
you were not content to think of them.' 

" 'Do you mean the mashed potatoes, Sir?' said 
Andrea, wondering." — Thackeray ("Diary of C. 
Jeames de la Pluche, Esq."). 

MASH six large, freshly boiled 
potatoes with an open wire 
masher to keep them light and 
flaky. Season with a tablespoonful of 
butter ; salt and pepper to taste. Stir 
in a cupful of cream ; beat into them two 
eggs. When well beaten, heap lightly 
in the dish in which they are to be served 
and set in the oven until a rich golden 
brown. 

MARCH 30TH 

"And you, gentlemen, what do you say to some 
iligant diwled kidneys for yourselves?" — Thack- 
eray ("The Tremendous Adventures of Major 
Gahagan"). 

SCALD a beef kidney, skin and slice 
it in thin slices, put an ounce of 
butter into a frying-pan ; when hot 
add the kidney, a tablespoonful of Wor- 
cestershire sauce, a saltspoonful of salt, a 
teaspoonful of dry mustard, simmer five 
minutes, add a gill of sour wine. Move 
the pan back and forth for a few mo- 
ments over the fire, then serve. 

59 



MARCH 3 1 ST 

"He takes mutton chops for dinner and the best 
of arrow-root for supper." — Charlotte Bronte 
("Shirley"). 

WHEN you would have arrow- 
root for supper put into a 
sauce-pan half a pint of water, 
a glass of sherry, or a tablespoonful of 
brandy, a little grated nutmeg and a 
scant tablespoonful of sugar. Let it boil 
up once, then stir in a dessertspoonful 
of arrowroot, previously rubbed smooth, 
with two spoonfuls of cold water. Re- 
turn to the fire, stir and boil three min- 
utes. 

APRIL 1ST 

"This Bouillebaisse a noble dish is — 

A sort of soup or broth, or brew. 
Or hotch-potch of all sorts of fishes. 

That Greenwich never could outdo: 
Green herbs, red peppers, mussels, saffron, 

Soles, onions, garlic, roach and dace: 
All these you'll eat at Terrfs tavern 

In that one dish of Bouillebaisse." 

— Thackeray ("Poems")- 

THE famous bouillebaisse is indeed, 
as Thackeray describes it, a sort 
of fish chowder, but it seldom 
contains all the ingredients he mentions. 
It may be made with four pounds of 
60 



fresh cod, two onions, a clove of garlic, 
one peppercorn, two stalks of celery, a 
quart of white potatoes cut in small 
pieces, salt, pepper, and a quarter of a 
pound of salt pork, cut in slices. Put 
all the ingredients together in a granite 
kettle and stew slowly in water enough 
to cover them for three or four hours. 
Just before serving add one quart of hot 
milk. 

APRIL 2D 

"Invite him to dinner, Emma, and help him to 
the best of the fish and chicken, but leave him to 
choose his own wife." — Jane Austen (" Emma"). 

SHAD seems to the English visitor 
the best of American fish, and the 
truly national way of cooking it is 
to plank it — a much simpler operation 
than it is commonly regarded. A shad 
plank may be bought now at any large 
housefurnishing store. Split the fish as 
for broiling, wash and wipe dry, and tie 
with the inside upward on the plank. 
Salt and pepper thoroughly and dredge 
with flour. Either place the plank be- 
fore a grate of clear coals — the orthodox 
way — or in a very hot oven. A thick 
shad will take fully half an hour to cook. 
When done, cut away the cords and but- 
ter the fish well, serving it on the plank. 
6i 



APRIL 3D 

"A little pipkin with a bit 
Of mutton or of veal in it, 
Set on my table trouble-free, 
More than a feast contenteth me." 

— Herrick ("Poems"). 

TO prepare a knuckle of veal, cut 
all the meat from the bone, which 
should have been broken in sev- 
eral places. Put the bones in a pint of 
cold water and bring slowly to the boil- 
ing point. Remove the sinews from the 
meat which you have cut off. Put a ta- 
blespoonful of butter in the bottom of 
a kettle and let it melt. Dredge flour, 
salt, and pepper over the pieces of veal 
and put them in the kettle to brown, stir- 
ring them for four or five minutes till 
they are delicately colored. Add a small 
carrot, one onion, and a bit of parsley. 
Pour over the browned veal the bones and 
the water in which they have been cook- 
ing, which should be boiling hot by this 
time. Cover closely and allow to simmer 
about three hours. When it is done re- 
move the veal and vegetables, take out 
the bones, thicken the gravy with a table- 
spoonful of flour, taste and see if more 
seasoning is desirable. If you have 
mushrooms, two tablespoonfuls, cut in 
pieces, will be an addition. Pour over 
the veal and serve. 



APRIL 4TH 

"Give me a piece of marchpane." — Shakespeare 
("Romeo and Juliet"). 

BLANCH a pound of Jordan al- 
monds and pound them in a mor- 
tar almost to a powder, add to 
them three-quarters of a pound of con- 
fectioners' sugar and stir in a few drops 
of orange-flavor water ; beat all together 
until it becomes a good paste ; dust a 
little fine sugar on the rolling-board and 
roll the paste, shaping it as you please ; 
ice by brushing with fine sugar wet with 
rose-water or orange-water, and bake in 
a moderate oven. 



APRIL 5TH 

" 'Very astonishing indeed! Strange thing!' 

Turning the dumplings round, rejoined the King." 

— WOLCOTT. 

DUMPLINGS to serve with veal 
stew will be beautifully tender 
and light if the following direc- 
tions are observed. Mix one pint of 
flour, half a teaspoonful of salt, two tea- 
spoonfuls of baking-powder and a tea- 
cupful of milk into a soft dough. Pull off 
bits of the dough and drop into the stew 
while it is boiling. Cover the stew-pan 

63 



tight and do not uncover for ten minutes, 
when the dumpling's should be done. 
Then serve immediately. 

APRIL 6th 

"Quite ready for the fowl and mashed potatoes, 
Sir?" — Charles Dickens ("The Haunted Man"). 

THE flavor of a baked potato is 
always superior to that of the 
boiled Friend-of-the-Irishman. 
A touch of elegance is added by cutting 
off the tops of the potatoes after they are 
baked, scooping out the inside, beating it 
up with butter, salt and cream, until 
smooth and light, returning it to the 
shells, and browning in the oven. 

APRIL 7TH 

" A pat^ of fruit conserved after a receipt 
devised by Gerard Moore's 'grand' mere' . . . 
completed the dinner." — Charlotte Bronte 
("Shirley"). 

CHOP a small teacupful each of 
apple, orange, candied lemon-peel, 
and Sultana raisins. Add a wine- 
glass of sherry, half a teaspoonful of 
powdered cloves, a tablespoonful of 
brandy, and a teacupful of sugar. Fill 
patty-shells of thin puff-paste and bake 
half an hour in a moderate oven. 

64 



APRIL 8th 

"How sweet the butter our own hands have 
churned!" — Charles Reade ("It Is Never Too 
Late To Mend"). 

THE small modern churns that 
come for "making butter while 
you wait" solve all difficulties 
in the way of having the fresh, sweet 
butter so much liked by many people, but 
no one need be deterred from having it 
by the lack of a churn, as the largest 
sized egg-beaters and a kitchen-bowl 
answer admirably. The cream needs to 
be heavy and it comes more quickly if 
it is near but not at the souring point. 
Beat briskly past the whipped-cream 
stage and the butter soon comes. No 
better butter can be made than has been 
produced with a bowl and a wooden 
paddle. 

APRIL 9TH 

"He heard the bacon sputter on the fork, 
And heard his mother's step across the floor." 
-^Jean Ingelow ("Poems"). 

HE might as easily have heard the 
bacon sputter in the frying-pan, 
if his mother had placed there 
half a dozen slices when the pan was hot. 
To make fried bacon delicious, remove, 
when beginning to curl up at the edges, 
65 



to a hot dish, and fry half a pound of 
mushrooms, steamed, washed, and peeled, 
in the bacon fat left in the pan. Pour 
them over slices of toast, arrange over 
them the bacon and serve hot. 

APRIL lOTH 

"To feed on caviare and eat anchovies." — Ran- 
dolph ("Muse's Looking-Glass "). 

SPREAD on deUcate slices of toast 
anchovies from which the heads and 
backbones have been taken : the 
best are those packed in bay leaves and 
spices. Lightly scramble five eggs, in 
which are stirred one large tablespoonful 
of butter, four of cream, salt and pepper. 
When the eggs begin to thicken turn on 
to the toast. A cupful of tomatoes cut 
in bits is an addition much liked by many, 
or stewed tomato may be used if more 
convenient. 

APRIL iiTH 

"The sweets shook and trembled, till it was quite 
impossible to help them." — Charles Dickens 
("Sketches by Boz"). 

FOR a pleasant and wholesome des- 
sert, orange charlotte is well 
adapted. Soak one-third of a box 
of gelatine in a third of a cup of cold 
66 



water ; when dissolved pour on a third of 
a cup of boiling water, the juice of a 
large lemon and one cup of sugar. Strain 
and add a cup of orange- juice and pulp 
and a little of the grated rind. Cool in a 
pan of ice-water; when cold add a cup 
of cream whipped stiff. Line a mould 
with lady-fingers or stale cake and pour 
in the orange mixture. 



APRIL I2TH 

"A barn-door fowl 
Which does not awe you with its claws and beak, 
But which in cackling sets you thinking of 
Your eggs to-morrow at breakfast, in the pause 
Of finer meditation." 

— Mrs. Browning ("Aurora Leigh"). 

EGGS fried in sweet-oil make a 
pleasant variety and are more deli- 
cate than the usual fried egg. 
Put about two tablespoonfuls of olive- 
oil in a hot spider ; when the oil is hot 
break in one egg, then another ; by the 
time the second egg is in the pan the 
first will be ready to fold over. By the 
time the second is folded the first is ready 
to take out. Repeat until enough eggs 
are cooked. 



67 



APRIL 13TH 

"This dish of meat is too good for any but anglers 
or very honest men." — Isaak Walton ("Complete 
Angler"). 

KEBOBBED mutton" is a dish 
that would answer to the gentle 
angler's description. Remove all 
the fat from a loin of mutton and cut it 
into chops or steaks. Dip these into the 
yolks of three eggs and sprinkle over 
them bread-crumbs seasoned with salt 
and pepper and summer savory. Place 
them together as before they were cut 
and tie them in shape. Roast them in a 
quick oven half an hour, basting with 
butter and the juices of the meat. Make 
a gravy by adding to the liquid remaining 
in the pan after the meat is cooked a 
tablespoonful of flour and a teacupful of 
tomato catsup. 

APRIL 14TH 

"You'd find sandwiches and sherry in plenty 
if you were to search his carriage." — Trollope 
("Phineas Finn"). 

A DELICIOUS sandwich to eat 
with wine is made of Jordan al- 
monds, pounded in a mortar, 
sprinkled with sugar, moistened with 
rich cream, and spread on thin slices of 
Boston brown bread. 
68 



APRIL 15TH 

"These procure quiet sleep, violets; lettuce, es- 
pecially boiled ; syrup of dried roses; saffron; balm: 
apples, at our going to bed." — Bacon. 

PICK apart a head of lettuce, wash 
carefully, and put into a steamer 
over a kettle of boiling water (a 
steamer may be improvised by using an 
ordinary colander and a pot of boiling 
water), cover closely, laying a thick 
folded cloth upon the lid. Boil hard for 
half an hour, then drain and lay the 
lettuce leaves upon a hot dish ; salt and 
pepper, and if this dish is not eaten at 
bedtime to "secure quiet sleep," it will 
be much improved by pouring over it 
a sauce piquant. 



APRIL i6th 

"You can make whipt cream; pray what relief 
Will that be to a sailor who wants beef? " 

— W. King. 

WHILE whipped cream may well 
be considered too light and 
airy to satisfy a brawny sailor, 
it is quite substantial enough to follow 
the beef. Poured over marrons glaces, 
flavored with sherry or Madeira, and 
capped with a candied cherry, it will 
please both eye and palate. 
69 



APRIL 17TH 

"Mrs. Jamicson was kindly indulgent to Miss 
Barker's want of knowledge of the customs of high 
life, and, to spare her feelings, eat three large pieces 
of seed-cake." — Mrs. Gaskell ("Cranford"). 

THE economies of Cranford make 
it probable that Miss Barker's 
seed-cakes were concocted by a 
rule not unlike the following, which calls 
for cheap materials and produces a re- 
sult likely to please a Jamieson palate : 

Mix a quart of flour with half a pound 
of sugar and a quarter of an ounce of 
allspice ; melt three-quarters of a pound 
of butter with half a pint of warm milk ; 
add while warm a quarter of a yeast- 
cake and work up to a smooth dough, 
mixing into it a cupful of cleaned cur- 
rants and half a cupful of caraway-seeds. 
Bake an hour and a half. 



APRIL i8th 

"Tongue; well that's a very good thing when it 
ain't a woman's. Bread — knuckle o' ham, reg'lar 
picter — cold beef in slices, wery good." — Charles 
Dickens ("Pickwick Papers"). 

BOIL corned tongue four hours, 
after soaking it over night, serve 
it hot with spinach cooked as fol- 
lows : Clean the spinach thoroughly, 
70 



rinsing in several waters, boil rapidly 
for half an hour (no water need be put 
in the pot). Drain and chop coarsely. 
Season with pepper, salt and butter. 



APRIL 19TH 

"Our country member, growing hot at cheese 
and salad time, about the spread of democracy in 
England, burst out as follows." — WiLKiE Collins 
("The Moonstone"). 

THE following combination of 
cheese and salad is good. To a 
cupful of cold chicken, or veal, 
add a cupful and a half of grated cheese. 
Make a dressing of the yolks of three 
hard-boiled eggs, rubbed smooth ; stir in 
three tablespoonfuls of salad-oil, a tea- 
spoonful of dry English mustard, or two 
of the German prepared mustard, a good 
sprinkling of paprika, half a teaspoon- 
ful of salt, and two tablespoonfuls of 
vinegar or three of lemon- juice. Mix 
with the cheese and chicken and garnish 
with the whites of the eggs. 



71 



APRIL 20TH 

"The cooks are hard at work. Sir, chopping 
herbs and mincing meats and breaking marrow- 
bones." — CiBBER ("Love Makes a Man"). 

THE herb which we most use with 
meat — as well as drink — is the 
fragrant mint, and the sauce of 
that name is made by adding to four 
tablespoonfuls of vinegar three each of 
chopped mint and granulated sugar, 
crushed together, and a dash of white 
pepper. Serve cold. 



APRIL 2 1 ST 

" She was good enough to give me some the other 
day with soupe aux choux." — Annie I. Thackeray 
("The Village on the Cliff"). 

FOR cabbage-soup of a delicate fla- 
vor pull apart and wash the cab- 
bage-leaves, let them lie an hour 
or more in cold water ; then put in a 
sauce-pan with enough boiling water to 
cover and a tablespoonful of salt. Cook 
for forty minutes, or until tender ; drain 
off the water and chop fine. Put in a 
sauce-pan three tablespoonfuls of butter, 
two of flour, a stalk of celery, a bay- 
leaf, and a quart of white stock, or, in 
its absence, a quart of milk. Cook slowly 
72 



for ten minutes, then remove the bay- 
leaf and celery, stirring till smooth ; 
then add the cabbage, season with salt 
and pepper, cook ten minutes, stirring 
constantly. If it is desired to have a 
smooth soup, put through a sieve, other- 
wise add half a pint of cream and serve. 



APRIL 22D 

" There stay thy haste 

And with the savoury fish 
Indulge thy taste." — Gay. 

REDSNAPPER, firm of flesh, 
plump, and handsome, is a fish 
that deserves to be better known 
than it is. It is more delicious boiled 
than baked, as is also the case with shad, 
so rarely seen boiled, with its delicate 
flesh unimpaired in texture and flavor. 
There should be enough boiling water 
in the kettle to cover the fish. To a 
gallon of water add the juice of three 
lemons, half a teacupful of salt, and one 
of vinegar. After the fish is in the 
water bring quickly to a boil, then push 
the kettle back where the water will sim- 
mer gently. Cook from half to three 
quarters of an hour. 



APRIL 23D 

"The baddish boy chuckled, and addressed him- 
self to the nice brown steaks with their rich gravy." 
— Charles Reade ("Christie Johnson"). 

THERE are steaks and steaks. 
Nearly every untrained applicant 
for a cook's situation declares that 
she can broil a steak and heat up canned 
tomatoes, but her steaks are not, as a 
rule, of the following type : 

A cut from the first, second, or third 
rib of a roasting piece of beef, the 
bone removed, the steak rubbed with 
olive-oil, dusted with pepper, salt, and 
flour, and broiled over a charcoal fire, 
held near the hot coals for the first two 
minutes, then lifted up from them to 
complete the cooking more slowly. For 
a rich gravy to accompany it, mince fine 
two shallots, boil ten minutes in two gills 
of claret, add half a pint of strong brown 
stock and a pinch of cayenne pepper. 
Pour over the steak. 



74 



APRIL 24TH 

"It was a very light, wholesome cake, Brown 
made it on purpose for the children." — Thackeray 
("The Newcomes"). 

BOIL together half a pint of water 
and two-thirds of a cup of butter. 
While boiling add two cups of 
flour even full. When cool add five eggs, 
well beaten. Drop on a pan. Bake in 
a quick oven twenty minutes. Put to- 
gether with a layer of cream, or split 
and fill with cream. 

Rule for cream : Boil one pint of milk, 
when boiling add two eggs, one cup of 
sugar, and half a cup of flour, beaten to- 
gether. Boil two or three minutes, re- 
move from the fire, stir in a small piece 
of butter, and a teaspoonful of vanilla 
flavoring. 

APRIL 25TH 

"Stay, John, did you perceive anything in my 
chocolate cup this morn?" — Sheridan ("St. Pat- 
rick's Day"). 

CHOCOLATE for immediate use 
should be made by dissolving in 
water one and a half ounces of 
sweet chocolate for each cup, stirring 
from time to time. It should be al- 
lowed to boil fifteen minutes to make it 
75 



smooth and consistent. Serve with cream, 
whipped or plain. 

Brillat Savarin quotes a good authority 
as saying that chocolate in perfection is 
made over night for breakfast, allowing 
it to remain on the side of the range and 
reheating when ready to serve. 

APRIL 26th 

"Custards for supper, and an endless host 
Of syllabubs and jellies and mince-pies, 
And other such ladyUke luxuries." 

— Shelley. 

DISSOLVE half a box of gelatine 
in half a pint of wine. Add one 
cupful of sugar, two beaten eggs, 
and one pint of cream, heated to the 
boiling point. When cool stir in another 
pint of cream, whipped stifT and flavored 
with grated orange-peel. Pour into a 
jelly-mould and place near the ice to 
set. 

APRIL 27TH 

"For meadow buds, I get a whifif, 
Of Cheshire cheese, or only sniff, 
The turtle made at Cuff's." — Hood. 

THERE are many ways of using 
the well-known Cheshire cheese, 
but a very good way is to pound 
four ounces of it with one ounce and a 
76 



half of butter, a half teaspoonful of 

white powdered sugar, a little bit of 

mace, and a wine-glass of white wine. 
Press down into a jar. 

APRIL 28th 

"Sweet turnips are the food of Blouzeind." — 
Gay. 

" £^WEET turnips," when they are 
^^young and tender, may be pared 
k^and cut crosswise in quarter- 
inch slices. Lay in ice-cold water for 
half an hour. Cook till tender in boiling 
unsalted water. Drain and dry on a 
cloth, and before they are quite cold 
sprinkle with pepper and salt, cover with 
flour and fry. 

APRIL 29TH 

"Deviled chicken and buttered toast." — Dis- 
raeli ("Coningsby"). 

CUT cold chicken in inch squares, 
as nearly as possible. Cover with 
olive-oil and lemon-juice and stand 
them in a cold place for two or three 
hours ; then season with pepper, salt, and 
a little dry mustard, dip in egg and 
cracker-crumbs and set aside till stiff, 
then fry a light brown. Have ready a 
cupful of good white sauce, allow it to 
77 



boil up, then beat through it a table- 
spoonful of cream and an egg. Half 
fill ramakins with the chicken and pour 
into each some of the sauce. 

APRIL 30TH 

"Miss Bates, let Emma help you to a little bit 
of tart — a very little, little bit. . . . You need 
not be afraid of unwholesome preserves here." — 
Jane Austen ("Emma"). 

TAKE the yolks of two eggs, the 
juice of two lemons, one cup of 
sugar, two even tablespoonfuls of 
flour and one half cupful of water. Bake 
with a bottom crust only, and when done 
cover with a meringue made of the 
whites of the eggs, beaten up with two 
tablespoonfuls of sugar and a little lem- 
on-juice. Return to the oven until the 
meringue is a very light brown. 

MAY 1ST 

"I'll teach you to draw, you young dog! 

Such pictures as I'm looking here at! 
'Old Mounseer making soup of a frog' 

There 'Palmam qui meruit ferat. '" 

— Hood ("Poems"). 

SKIN the hind legs of frogs and 
lay in milk for fifteen min- 
utes ; stew in barely enough water 
to cover and cook till tender. Remove 
78 



the meat from the bones and chop fine. 
Heat a quart of white stock made from 
chicken or veal ; thicken with one table- 
spoonful of flour, rubbed into one of 
butter and half a teacupful of dry fine 
bread-crumbs ; add the frog meat, allow 
it to boil for a minute or two, stir in a 
little chopped parsley ; season with salt 
and pepper and it is ready to serve. 



MAY 2D 

"Old Tray licked all the oysters up, 

Puss never stood at crimps, 
But munched the cod, and little kit 

Quite feasted on the shrimps." 

— Hood ("Poems")- 

THE fresh shrimps when in mar- 
ket are to be preferred, but good 
canned ones in glass bottles may 
be obtained. To a pint of shrimps, when 
boiled and taken from the shells, allow a 
large cupful of milk ; when it is hot add 
a tablespoonful of butter rubbed into one 
of flour. Stir until well blended, then 
put in the shrimps, season with salt and 
paprika. When ready to take from the 
fire, stir in a beaten egg. 

If the canned shrimps are used be 
sure to rinse in cold water some minutes 
before using. 

79 



MAY 3D 

" Of course we must have something to eat. 
. . . There'll be a cutlet — on a trunk — anyway." 
— Mrs. Humphry Ward ("Lady Rose's Daugh- 
ter"). 

IF the cutlet was of veal it should 
have been thoroughly cooked, as un- 
derdone veal is proverbially unwhole- 
some. To insure a tender, palatable 
and digestible veal cutlet prepare and 
cook it as follows : Season the meat 
with salt and pepper. Heat three table- 
spoonfuls of salad-oil very hot in a fry- 
ing-pan. Fry the cutlet in this until 
brown on both sides. Pour off the oil 
and substitute a cupful of boiling water, 
a cupful of stewed tomatoes, and two 
dozen mushrooms. Cover the pan closely 
and let the meat simmer for an hour in 
the sauce. 

MAY 4TH 

"Those roots that shall first spring and be most 
delicate." — Shakespeare ("Henry V."). 

YOUNG carrots are particularly 
nice prepared as follows Scrape 
the carrots, slice as thin as possible 
with a sharp knife ; put into a sauce-pan 
with very hot butter, tossing them with 
a knife to prevent sticking. Cook till 
80 



they begin to brown and are done 
through, which will be in a few minutes. 
Season well with salt and pepper, pour- 
ing the melted butter over them. Each 
ring of the carrot has a different flavor, 
and cooking in this way blends them 
best. 



MAY 5TH 

"Tea and cake on the table — beauty seated by 
his side, — all in less than a minute. He offered 
her a piece of cake 'Na! I am no for any.' He 
replied by putting a bit to her heavenly mouth." 
— Charles Reade ("Peg Woffington"). 

TO make angel-cake, which was 
doubtless the kind referred to in 
the above quotation, beat until 
very stiff the whites of eleven eggs ; add 
a cupful and a half of granulated sugar 
and beat again and flavor with a tea- 
spoonful of almond extract. To one cup 
of sifted flour add a teaspoonful of cream 
of tartar and sift four times. Mix Hghtly, 
with as little beating as possible, into 
the sugar and eggs. Bake in a cake- 
pan with funnel for forty or forty-five 
minutes, dusting the pan lightly with 
flour instead of buttering it. When done 
invert on glasses or cups till it cools a 
little. 

8i 



MAY 6th 

"We have got three things left, Sir — Love, Music 
and Salad!" — Wilkie Collins ("The Moon- 
stone"). 

A MAYONNAISE properly pre- 
pared can be adapted to innumer- 
able uses, and is easily made. Mix 
with the yolk of an egg half a saltspoon- 
ful each of mustard and pepper, a salt- 
spoonful of salt, and the juice of a lemon, 
stirring lightly. Begin by adding oil, 
two or three drops at a time, increas- 
ing the quantity as the dressing thickens 
until about three-quarters of a cupful has 
been used, stirring steadily. Then put 
in a tablespoonful of vinegar and when 
that is well blended stir in a quarter of 
a cupful of oil. Oil, egg, and utensils 
should be chilled before beginning the 
mixing. 

MAY 7TH 

"They are up already and call for eggs and but- 
ter." — Shakespeare ("Henry IV."). 

I HOUGH the g o o d English 
Shakespeare did not describe the 

morning eggs as cooked "sur le 

plat," he may very well have meant to in- 
dicate that excellent dish which is pre- 
82 



T 



pared by breaking the requisite number 
of eggs on a plate warmed in the oven, 
and well buttered, being careful not to 
let the eggs touch each other. Season 
each egg with salt and pepper and put 
a bit of butter on each. A little minced 
parsley sprinkled over them is an im- 
provement. 

MAY 8th 

"A cheap, but wholesome salad from the brook." 
— Beaumont and Fletcher. 

WATER-CRESS is a very wel- 
come spring salad, too often 
condemned to appear only as 
a garnish. It is excellent served with a 
French dressing, or for breakfast, eaten 
simply with salt. 

MAY 9TH 

"I'd give a hundred pounds for a mutton chop." 
— Chaiu.es Reade ("It Is Never Too Late To 
Mend"). 

THE heavy "English" chops as 
they are called, are cut from the 
loin, and should weigh, when 
trimmed, about a pound each. They 
should be broiled over an even fire, for 
about ten minutes, turning often. A 
piece of the kidney is often broiled and 
83 



served with the chop ; also a spoonful of 
maitre d'hotel butter, made by beating 
into a quarter of a cup of butter a tea- 
spoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of pepper, 
and a tablespoonful each of lemon- juice 
and chopped parsley. 

MAY lOTH 

"I'll be with you in the squeezing of a lemon." 
"^Goldsmith ("She Stoops to Conquer"). 

SOAK a package of gelatine in a 
cup of cold water until it is all ab- 
sorbed. Strain the juice of one 
orange and three lemons, in which the 
grated peel of one lemon has been soaked 
for an hour, upon three cupfuls of sugar. 
Put into a bowl with the soaked gela- 
tine and pour over all a quart of boiling 
water. Stir for a moment or two, then 
strain through a bag of cheese-cloth of 
double thickness. 



MAY iiTH 

'"Are there any tea-cakes?' asked the young 
mistress." — Charlotte Bronte ("Shirley"). 

CREAM a heaping tablespoonful of 
butter and a cupful of sugar and 
add two well beaten eggs, stirring 
briskly for a few moments. Then put 
84 



in a cupful of sweet milk. Mix with two 
cupfuls of sifted flour, three teaspoon- 
fuls of baking-powder and sift again. 
Stir into the cake mixture, and season 
with nutmeg and a little of the grated 
rind of a lemon. Bake in patty-pans and 
eat before the cakes are cold. 



MAY I2TH 

"I wish you could ha* seen the shepherd walfcin' 
into the ham and muffins." — Charles Dickens 
("Pickwick Papers"). 

TO serve with muffins, cut thin 
slices of cold boiled ham, season 
highly with paprika, mustard, and 
lemon juice and broil two minutes. Half a 
glass of currant jelly heated up with a 
teaspoonful of butter and a little chopped 
cold ham stirred into it makes an excel- 
lent gravy for those who like sweet 
sauces with meats. 



MAY 13TH 

"This half of a curd -white smooth cheese-ball." 
— Robert Browning ("The Englishman in Italy"). 

ADD to a cream cheese half a cup- 
ful of chopped walnuts ; work 
them well together, adding, if 
necessary, a spoonful of cream or milk. 
8S 



With butter paddles make into balls the 
size of an English walnut. Pass with the 
salad. 

MAY 14TH 

"A despatcher for the preparation of lobster and 
coffee, and an apparatus for the cooking of toast and 
mutton chops." — Anthony Trollope ("The War- 
den"). 

ONE of the simplest and quickest 
chafing-dish preparations is made 
by heating in the pan, but not 
browning, a piece of butter the size of 
a large egg ; when very hot add the meat 
from two medium-sized or three small 
lobsters, cut in rather small pieces ; toss 
with a fork while cooking and add a 
good saltspoonful of salt and a liberal 
sprinkling of paprika. Serve on very 
hot plates with hot crackers or toast. 



MAY 15TH 

"The cr6me de maraschino led her thoughts back 
to Italy." — Lord Lytton ("Parisians"). 

BOIL two quarts of water with one 
pound of sugar for fifteen minutes. 
Take from the fire and when cool 
add the juice of five large lemons. 
Freeze, and when about half frozen, add 
half a pint of maraschino. Cover the 
86 



■•^^^■■'■iise^te^^at^tiamm 



freezer and allow the punch to remain 
packed in ice fully two hours before serv- 
ing. 

MAY I 6th 

"Faire was the dawne, and but e'en now the skies 
Shew'd like to cream enspir'd with strawberries." 
— Heerick ("Poems"). 

NO better way for using strawber- 
ries has been invented than serv- 
ing the perfect fruit with sugar 
and rich cream, being careful that you 
have sweet berries. When the flavor is 
good and the size is satisfactory, a pretty 
way to serve them is with their hulls and 
stems on, in glass saucers, with a little 
pyramid of fruit sugar in the centre. 



MAY 17TH 

"There were fowls, and tongue, and trifle, and 
sweets, and lobster salad, and potted beef — and 
everything." — Charles Dickens ("Sketches by 
Boz"). 

LARGE lobsters are best for salad, 
as there is much waste in small 
ones. Put in boiling water, head 
downward, and cook for three-quarters 
of an hour. Carefully break the shells, 
throw away the stomach, the vein that 
runs through the tail-piece, and the 
S7 



spongy bits between shell and body. Cut 
the rest of the meat into small pieces, 
arrange on lettuce leaves and cover with 
mayonnaise dressing into which you 
have stirred the corral and green fat of 
the lobster. 

MAY i8th 

"Have you this spring eaten any 'sparagus yet?" 
— Brome. 

SCRAPE the stalks of the aspara- 
gus, cutting off the tough ends, and 
place in cold water for half an hour ; 
then cook in hot salted water for half an 
hour. Put on thin slices of toast on a 
hot platter and pour over it a white sauce, 
or simply melted butter. 



MAY 19TH 

"The tea consumed was the very best, the coffee 
the very blackest, the cream the very thickest; 
there was dry toast and buttered toast, muffins and 
crumpets; hot bread and cold bread, white bread 
and brown bread, home-made bread and bakers' 
bread, wheaten bread and oaten bread, and if there 
be other breads than these they were there." — 
Anthony Trollope ("The Warden"). 

BROWN bread delicately toasted 
with a cream sauce poured over 
it is delicious. The sauce is made 
as follows : Into a tablespoonful of but- 
88 



drr^'tmt^^^m* ^m 



tef stir a tablespoonful of flour, add to 
a pint of boiling cream well seasoned 
with salt. Just before removing from 
the fire beat an egg through the sauce 
and strain through a fine strainer. This 
last operation is one which the ordinary 
cook regards as entirely superfluous, but 
in it lies much of the secret of delicacy 
in cream sauces. 



MAY 20TH 

"There was pastry upon a dish; he selected 
an apricot-puff and a damson tart." — Charlotte 
Bronte ("Shirley"). 

THE ordinary pufif-paste patty 
shells of the confectioner may be 
bought and made to appear quite 
an individual dessert by putting in each 
two or three pieces of canned apricot, 
sprinkling them rather thickly with gran- 
ulated sugar and setting them in the oven 
long enough for the sugar to melt. If the 
oven is pretty hot it will be well to cover 
with brown paper. After a few moments 
take from the oven and strew the top 
with blanched and chopped almonds — or 
other nuts. Of course the always ad- 
mired whipped cream may be added for 
an extra touch. 

89 



MAY 2 1 ST 

"But you'd like a drink o' whey first, p'r'aps, I 
know you're fond o' whey as most folks is when 
they hanna got to crush it out." — George Eliot 
("Adam Bede")- 

"^^~>(URDS and whey" have a pas- 
I toral sound, but not always an 
Vfc_^ agreeable taste to the unini- 
tiated citizen. The following recipe for 
white wine whey suggests, however, a 
warm and welcome drink for a chill au- 
tumn day. Put half a pint of fresh milk 
on the fire ; as soon as it boils pour in 
raisin wine until it is completely turned 
and looks clear. Boil up again, then set 
aside until the curd subsides and do not 
stir it. Pour the whey off, add half a 
pint of boiling water and a tablespoonful 
of sugar. 



MAY 22D 

"It is not the trout one thinks of when one dines 
with Mrs. Dale." — Bulwer ("My Novel"). 

CLEAN, wash and dry fresh trout ; 
roll in flour, salted and peppered, 
and fry in deep fat to a delicate 
golden brown. Serve upon a napkin 
placed on a hot dish. No sauce can im- 
prove the flavor. 

90 



MAY 23D 

"Wery good thing is weal pie, when you know 
the lady as made it, and is quite sure it an't kittens." 
— Charles Dickens ("Pickwick Papers"). 

A VEAL pie with baked dumplings 
is an agreeable change, if, as Mr. 
Weller suggests, you know the 
lady who makes it. Cut up two pounds 
of veal in small pieces and stew gently 
for an hour in a gravy made of a table- 
spoonful of butter and a tablespoonful of 
flour, rubbed together, and a quart of 
water added. At the end of the hour, 
pour the meat and gravy (which should 
have been seasoned with salt and pep- 
per) into a shallow baking-dish. Make 
a biscuit dough and pull off pieces of it 
with a fork; place these on the dish of 
meat and bake in a hot oven until brown. 
Serve immediately. 



MAY 24TH 

"First we talked about the weather, next about 
muffins and crumpets. Crumpets, he said he liked 
best." — Thackeray ("The Yellowplush Papers"). 

MIX two pints and a half of sifted 
flour, a teaspoonful of salt and 
a half-cup of sugar. Dissolve 
a quarter of a cake of compressed yeast 
91 



in two and a half cupfuls of lukewarm 
water, mix with the flour into a smooth 
batter and let stand in a warm place over 
night, covered. In the morning beat 
half a teacupful of melted butter into 
the risen batter, fill buttered muffin pans 
with the mixture, let rise for about an 
hour, and bake half an hour in a fairly 
quick oven. 



MAY 25TH 

"If the cream-cheeses be white, far whiter the 
hands that made them." — Arthur Hugh Clough 
("The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich"). 

PLACE upon the range a panful 
of entirely fresh milk ; let it come 
very slowly to the scalding point, 
being careful that it does not boil. Put 
it in a cold place for six hours, then 
skim ofif the cream and press gently 
into little cups, sifting a little salt over 
the surface of each portion. Set away 
in a cold place. The result is very deli- 
cate cream cheese. 



92 



MAY 26th 

"The sauce is costly for it far exceeds the cates." 
— Greene ("Never Too Late"). 

MAKE a hard sauce by rubbing 
into half a cup of butter one cup 
of powdered sugar. Beat or 
stir till very creamy. Add a quart of 
sweet ripe strawberries, beating well. It 
may be made into a liquid sauce by set- 
ting the bowl containing it into a pan 
of hot water and stirring rapidly for 
a moment or two. This sauce is war- 
ranted to turn the plainest cottage pud- 
ding into a delightful dessert. 



MAY 27TH 

"Did I eat any lettuce to supper last night that 
I am so sleepy?" — J. Coake. 

CUT the roots of the lettuce off 
even with the head and remove the 
wilted leaves. Wash carefully. 
Lay the head in a baking-pan in which 
has been placed stock enough to cover 
the pan an inch deep. Cover and 
place in a moderate oven until the 
lettuce is soft, which will usually be in 
about half an hour. Add more stock 
if necessary. Lift the lettuce out with 
93 



a fork on to a hot dish. Season the 
gravy in the pan with salt and pepper 
and thicken with flour rolled in butter ; 
or the flour may be omitted and it may 
be thickened with an egg, in which case 
add butter. 



MAY 28th 

"If you give me any conserves give me conserves 
of beef." — Shakespeare ("Taming of the Shrew"). 

PUT through a meat grinder, or 
chop very fine, the tough ends of 
beefsteak or the unattractive rem- 
nants of roast beef. Place in a sauce- 
pan with enough gravy or stock to 
cover it well, or, lacking these, any meat 
extract ; season highly with salt and pep- 
per, a little catsup or Worcestershire 
sauce, and cook slowly for two or three 
hours. Pour into a bowl or porcelain 
dish and when cool set in the ice-box. 
When cold, slice. Garnish with hard 
boiled eggs. 



94 



MAY 29TH 

"Would he have a cup of coffee, or would he 
prefer sherbet? Sherbet! ... He had, how- 
ever, an idea that sherbet should be drunk sitting 
cross-legged, and as he was not quite up to this, he 
ordered the coffee." — Anthony Trollope ("The 
Warden"). 

UPON four teaspoonfuls of good 
tea, Ceyloti or English Break- 
fast rather than Oolong, pour 
one quart of boiling water. Cover it 
closely and allow it to stand five min- 
utes, then strain and set in a cool place. 
When the tea is cold put a large piece 
of ice in the punch-bowl, also a cupful 
and a half of granulated sugar, and six 
tablespoonfuls of strained lemon- juice. 
Add the tea and, just as you serve, a 
pint of Apollinaris, or carbonated water. 



MAY 30TH 

"Some arrowroot of a very superior quality was 
speedily despatched." — Jane Austen ("Emma"). 

ARROWROOT is not only ex- 
cellent for gruels and blanc- 
manges, but the most delicate 
thickening for soups. A good broth is 
made by stirring two teaspoonfuls of 
arrowroot into a little cold water until 
95 



smooth, then adding it to strong con- 
somme. It improves the flavor and 
increases the nutritious quaHty of the 
soup. 

MAY 3 1 ST 

"That I may reach that happy time 

The kindly gods I pray, 
For are not ducks and peas in prime 

Upon the last of May?" 

— Thackeray ("Poems"). 

HALF roast a duck ; put it into 
a stew-pan with a pint of beef 
gravy, a couple of leaves of sage 
and a leaf of mint cut small, pepper and 
salt and an onion (minced). Simmer 
fifteen minutes and skim. Add one 
quart of green peas. Cover closely and 
cook half an hour longer. Put in a 
piece of butter and a couple of table- 
spoonfuls of flour, boil through and 
serve in one dish. 



JUNE 1ST 

"I know where wild strawberries abound." — 
Charlotte Bronte ("Sliirley"). 

STRAWBERRIES are too delicate 
to brandy acceptably, but an old 
English way to preserve them is 
to fill a pint jar with the berries, sifting 
96 



through them three heaping- tablespoon- 
fuls of granulated sugar and pour in 
as much Madeira or sherry as the jar 
will hold. The wild strawberries, with 
their rich flavor, are particularly good 
for this. 



JUNE 2D 

"After all, Gandrin, when we lose the love-letters, 
it is some consolation that laitances de carpes and 
sautes de foie gras are still left to fill up the void in 
our hearts." — Lord Lytton ("Parisians"). 

AMERICAN hearts must be con- 
soled by the roe of shad instead 
of the roe of carp. The most de- 
licious way of cooking this delicacy is 
to fry it, but for those who rebel against 
fried food the following method may be 
recommended. Make a thick brown 
sauce by cooking butter and flour to- 
gether in equal quantities until a rich 
brown, then adding a pint of cream or 
milk and salt and pepper. Boil the 
shad roes ten minutes, then place in a 
baking-dish, pour the sauce over them, 
and bake for three-quarters of an hour 
in a moderate oven. Garnish with pars- 
ley and hard boiled Ggg. 



97 



JUNE 3D 

"There was a delicate fricassee of sweetbread 
and some asparagus brought in at first, and good 
Mr. Woodhouse, not thinking the asparagus quite 
boiled enough, sent it all away again." — Jane Aus- 
ten ("Emma"). 

FOR a delicious fricassee put a 
teaspoonful of butter into a 
chafing-dish pan. Fry to a deli- 
cate brown three nicely cleaned sweet- 
breads cut in small pieces. Add half a 
pint of chicken broth, a teaspoonful of 
flour, a tablespoonful of finely chopped 
celery, a dash of cayenne pepper, a tea- 
spoonful of salt, and half a teacupful 
of asparagus tips previously boiled 
tender. 



JUNE 4TH 

"They tempt me, your beans there: spare a 
plate." — Robert Browning ("The Bean Feast"). 

THE stringed beans of what may 
be called the cooking of commerce 
are seldom tempting, but the 
following method of preparing them 
can be recommended to the most 
fastidious " bean-feaster." String the 
beans carefully, slit them lengthwise into 
thin strips. Salt and cook them until 
98 



nearly tender, then pour off the water, 
and replace it with a cupful of white 
stock or of milk in which a tablespoon- 
ful of butter, blended with as much flour, 
has been stirred. Finish cooking and 
serve at once. 



JUNE 5TH 

"My heart sank with our claret-flask." — Robert 
Browning. 

FOR claret-cup dilute a quart of 
good claret with a pint of ice- 
water ; add a large cup of granu- 
lated sugar, the juice of three lemons 
and one orange. Half' an hour before 
serving put into it half a dozen long 
sprigs of fresh mint and a cucumber 
sliced lengthwise, half a dozen slices of 
a small orange, the same of lemon, and, 
if in season, a few strawberries or rasp- 
berries, and two or three pieces of sliced 
pineapple. Serve ice cold. This is an 
orthodox rule but the cucumber may be 
omitted with profit for many tastes. 



99 



JUNE 6th 

"Hark, the quick whistling pelt of the olives." 
— Browning ("The Englishmen in Italy"). 

RIPE olives minced and stirred 
into scrambled eggs add a de- 
lectable flavor to a simple dish. 
The eggs should be cooked very rare. 



JUNE 7TH 

"We'll have a dozen of bones well charged with 
marrow." — Cartwright. 

HAVE the marrow bones cut in 
lengths of two or three inches, 
wash and wipe the bones, cover- 
ing the ends with a stiff dough of 
flour and water. Fasten the bones in a 
piece of cloth, put in a sauce-pan with 
enough boiling water to cover them and 
boil for an hour ; then remove both cloth 
and dough. They may be served simply 
as they are, with pieces of buttered 
toast, or may have the marrow removed 
and spread on hot toast. A still better 
way for the marrow lover is to spread 
it on steak, especially tenderloin, and al- 
ways very hot. 



100 



JUNE 8th 

"Pineapple is great. She is indeed almost too 
transcendent — a delight, if not sinful, yet so like to 
sinning, that really a tender conscienced person 
would do well to pause." — Charles Lamb. 

TO one pound of sugar add three 
pints of boiling water and cook 
for half an hour. Pare a fine 
pineapple (the yellow ones are best), and 
grate it, or, better still, tear from the 
core with a silver fork. Add four table- 
spoonfuls of lemon-juice and the pulp 
of an orange. When the boiled syrup 
is cool, pour into it the pineapple and 
orange and pack away in ice for two 
or three hours. When ready to serve 
pour in a glass of sherry or Madeira and 
a few strawberries or stoned cherries, if 
in season. Put into a punch-bowl with 
a block of ice. 



JUNE 9TH 

"I quitted the 'Rose Cottage Hotel' with deep 
regret, believing that I should see nothing so pleas- 
ant as its gardens and its veal-cutlets and its dear 
little bowling green, elsewhere." — Thackeray. 

VEAL cutlets fried with a gravy 
are certainly not a very whole- 
some dish, despite the fact that 
they are undeniably appetizing. The fol- 



lowing recipe gives perhaps the most 
dehcate way known of preparing this 
indigestible meat. Cut the slices about 
three-quarters of an inch thick. Dip 
them first in egg and then in bread- 
crumbs seasoned with salt, pepper and 
chopped parsley. Broil them over a 
clear fire and serve with butter and 
catsup. 

JUNE lOTH 

"And, upon my word, the very thing my soul 
was longing for — a cup of coffee!"— Mrs. Hum- 
phry Ward ("Lady Rose's Daughter"). 

THE difficulty of getting a good 
cup of cofifee when traveling is 
sometimes great, and it may be 
avoided by carrying a bottle of perco- 
lated coffee in one's outfit. Put one 
pound of pulverized coffee in a glass 
chemist's funnel, the smaller end of 
which has been stopped with absorbent 
cotton. The coffee must first be mois- 
tened with a cupful of water stirred 
thoroughly through it. After putting 
the coffee in the funnel pour over it one 
quart and half a pint of cold water. Set 
the funnel over a jar and let the water 
percolate through the coffee. The ex- 
tract obtained will make strong coffee 
used in the proportion of five teaspoon- 



fuls to a coffee cupful of boiling water. 
Add the coffee to the water, not the water 
to the coffee. In a cool place this will 
keep a fortnight without difficulty. 



JUNE iiTH 

"When you are tired of eating strawberries in 
the garden, there shall be cold meat in the house." 
— Jane Austen ("Emma"). 

STRAWBERRIES from the garden 
should be served on their own 
leaves, dusted with powdered sugar, 
and each delightful little heap crowned 
with whipped cream. To preserve them 
in a way to keep their garden flavor, 
stew one-quarter of them, squeeze the 
juice through a bag as for jelly, cook the 
remainder of the berries in this juice, to 
which sugar enough to make a rich 
syrup has been added. 



JUNE I2TH 

"Greens, oddly bruised, formed the accom- 
panying vegetable." — Charlotte Bronte ("Shir- 
ley"). 

BEET-TOP greens mixed with 
dandelion greens are delicious in 
the Spring of the year. They 
should be carefully washed and boiled 
103 



fast for twenty minutes in merely enough 
water to keep them from burning until 
their own juices are extracted by the 
heat. When they are cooked drain them 
thoroughly in a colander, and add a 
large lump of butter and a little salt 
and pepper, but do not chop as in the 
case of spinach. People with an old-fash- 
ioned taste for rich and homely flavors 
like to boil with them a piece of salt pork, 
serving it in the same dish. 



JUNE 13TH 

"O'er our parched tongue the rich metheglin 

glides, 
And the red dainty trout the knife divides." 

—Gay. 

BRILLAT SAVARIN tells us not 
to forget that trout should be 
fried in the finest olive oil, made hot 
enough to brown a cube of bread in 
five or six seconds. So cooked he de- 
clares it is a dish fit for a cardinal, which 
in Italy means much more than "fit for 
a king." 



104 



JUNE 14TH 

"You've got the basket with the Veal and 
Ham -Pie and things, and the bottles of Beer?" — 
Charles Dickens ("Cricket on the Hearth")- 

THE modern recipes for veal-and- 
ham pie are not so elaborate and 
costly as the best of the old 
English pies — neither are they so good. 
Here is the original rule : Cut thin 
slices from the breast of veal ; season 
them with salt and pepper. Slice two 
sweetbreads and season these also. Lay 
a puff paste "on the ledge of the dish," 
and fill the latter with alternate layers 
of veal sweetbreads, hard-boiled eggs, 
and oysters, with a layer of thin slices 
of ham at the top. Truffles and mush- 
rooms are sometimes added. Pour over 
the mixture a pint of veal stock slightly 
thickened. Cover with puff paste and 
bake slowly two hours. Half an hour 
before serving insert a funnel in the 
crust and pour in a cup of rich cream. 



10s 



JUNE 15TH 

"Fill all fniit with ripeness to the core." — Keats. 

AVERY good use to make of all 
fruit which needs to have the 
quality of "ripeness to the core" 
is to make Brandy Tutti Frutti. Begin 
with strawberries ; prepare three pounds 
as for eating ;put in a large jar with three 
pounds of granulated sugar and a quart 
of brandy and cover tightly. Stir often, 
and when raspberries are ripe add two 
or three pounds of them with an equal 
amount of sugar. Add other fruits as 
they ripen, always with the same weight 
of sugar. Peaches should be pared and 
quartered, and sweet plums should be 
peeled and cut up ; if any very acid fruit 
be added, cook it first. Stir frequently, 
keep tightly corked in a cool place, and 
you will have a delicious and unusual 
accompaniment for creams and ices. 



JUNE i6th 

"Shall it be a delicate lobster-salad? or a dish 
of elegant tripe and onions?" — Thackeray. 

FOR those who like lobster, and do 
not like mayonnaise, a salad may 
be prepared by cutting the good 
parts of the lobster into rather small 
106 



pieces and mixing with them the yolks 
of half a dozen hard-boiled eggs cut in 
bits ; toss together with a silver fork, add 
a good French dressing of three table- 
spoonfuls of oil to one of vinegar. Pep- 
per and salt to taste. Arrange on let- 
tuce-leaves with the whites of the eggs 
and olives as a garnish. 



JUNE 17TH 

"The whole vegetable tribe have lost their gust 
with me. Only I stick to asparagus, which still 
seems to inspire gentle thoughts." — Charles Lamb. 

PUT half a bunch of asparagus from 
which the tips have been removed 
into three pints of stock (or 
water). Fry an onion and add a bay 
leaf, a little parsley and a stalk of cel- 
ery, tied together. Put in the soup with 
twelve peppercorns and a level teaspoon- 
ful of salt, and simmer for thirty-five 
minutes. Strain through a sieve, press- 
ing through all the asparagus possible. 
Put the strained soup on the fire ; add 
two tablespoonfuls of flour and two of 
butter, rubbed together; cook ten min- 
utes ; add a cup of cream and the as- 
paragus-tips, which should have cooked 
twenty minutes in stock or milk. Serve 
at once. 

107 



JUNE i8th 

"Therefor, out with the cold pies, out with the 
salads, and the chickens, and the champagne." 
— Thackeray. 

FOR chicken salad cut the chicken 
into small pieces, being careful to 
remove any bits of skin and gristle. 
Marinade with equal quantities of oil 
and vinegar, seasoned with salt and pep- 
per. Set in a cool place for a couple of 
hours ; when ready to use mix with the 
chicken about a third of the quantity of 
chopped celery, or, if it is not in season, 
bits of lettuce leaves, torn, not cut, apart. 
Then stir in about the same quantity of 
English walnut meats as of celery. Mix 
with it all a little mayonnaise, and on 
the top spread more of the mayonnaise. 
Serve in white lettuce leaves. 



JUNE 19TH 

"And we must glorify 
A mushroom! one of yesterday!" 

— Ben Jonson ("Catiline"). 

WASH and peel a pint of fresh 
mushrooms, cook gently for 
five minutes in enough salted 
boiling water to just cover them; then 
add a scant tablespoonful of butter, sea- 
108 



son with paprika and a gill of red wine, 
cover and bring the stew to a boil. 



JUNE 20TH 

"A dish of thick bread and scraped butter, a 
plate of hard biscuit, a teapot, and a glass milk-jug." 
— Annie I. Thackeray ("Out of the World"). 

HARD biscuit made at home are 
the joy of dyspeptics and are 
very simple to make if the cook 
is not afraid to use the strength of her 
arm. Rub a piece of butter the size of 
a large hickory-nut into a pint of sifted 
flour to which a teaspoonful of salt has 
been added. Mix with the beaten white 
of an egg and warm milk into a stiff 
paste. Beat this with a rolling-pin for 
half an hour. Then form the dough into 
small balls, roll out thin, and bake a very 
light brown. 

JUNE 2 1 ST 

" Yes, by Saint Anne, and ginger shall be hot i' the 
mouth, too." — Shakespeare ("Twelfth Night"). 

THIS ginger shall be hot and cold, 
too, the poison carrying its own 
antidote. Make a rich custard of 
one quart of milk and eight eggs, whites 
and yolks beaten together; when the 
109 



eggs are light beat in four cupfuls of 
sugar and one quart of cream. Scald the 
milk before adding to sugar and eggs ; 
return the mixture to the fire in a double 
boiler ; stir until the custard thickens ; 
when cool flavor with vanilla and beat 
in the cream. Put in the freezer and 
when half frozen stir in a cupful of 
preserved ginger in bits and two table- 
spoonfuls of the ginger syrup. Cover 
the freezer and finish freezing. 



JUNE 22D 

"But a plain leg of mutton, my dear, 

I beg thee get ready at three; 
Have it smoking, and tender and juicy, 

And what better meat can there be?" 
— Thackeray ("Memorials of Gormandising"). 

THE "plain leg of mutton" may 
be robbed of some of its plainness 
by having the bone removed and 
stuffing it with a mixture of grated 
bread crumbs, seasoned highly with salt, 
pepper, and any of the herbs preferred — 
thyme, sage, or marjoram, and a liberal 
allowance of melted butter, say a third 
of a cup. If a moist stuffing is liked, 
add a little hot stock, but using only 
butter makes it better for most people. 
Garnish with parsley. 
no 



JUNE 23D 

"Come and eat my strawberries; they are ripen- 
ing fast." — Jane Austen ("Emma"). 

IF there exist any who are tired of 
eating or serving strawberries plain, 
we have the authority of Savarin and 
the Count de la Place for dressing them 
with orange juice just before they are 
to be eaten. 



JUNE 24TH 

"When the ducks and green peas came, we looked 
at each other in dismay." — Mrs. Gaskell ("Cran- 
ford"). 

PEOPLE who like to combine two 
spring flavors which seem to have 
little enough in common, add to 
green peas while they are cooking 
a few leaves of fresh mint, chopped. An 
old recipe suggests also adding a head 
of lettuce and a sliced onion, but to the 
modern taste this seems very much like 
painting the lily. 



Ill 



JUNE 25TH 

"The foolish John 
Resolved the problem, 'twixt his napkined thumbs, 
Of what was signified by taking soup 
Or choosing mackerel." 

— Mrs. Browning ("Aurora Leigh"). 

SELECT a fat salt mackerel weigh- 
ings at least a pound ; soak over 
night in a pan of cold water, skin 
side up so that the salt falls out ; change 
the water in the morning. Drain well 
and put on the fire in cold water ; when 
it boils drain thoroughly and gently 
remove the backbone. Pour over and in 
the mackerel two tablespoonfuls of 
nicely browned melted butter. Garnish 
with parsley and serve very hot. 



JUNE 26th 

" 'Wot's the matter?' says the doctor. 

"'Wery ill,' says the patient. 

" 'Wot have you been eatin' on?' says the doctor. 
" 'Roast weal,' says the patient." — Charles Dick- 
ens ("Pickwick Papers"). 

UNDOUBTEDLY there are peo- 
ple to whom indulgence in roast 
veal means a doctor's bill; but 
they are comparatively few. If veal is 
thoroughly cooked it may generally be 



eaten with impunity. Have the bone 
taken out of a fillet. Stuff with bread- 
crumbs highly seasoned and bound 
lightly together with butter ; no other 
moistening is needed. Skewer the meat 
into shape, cover it with slices of salt 
pork or bacon. Cook at least three 
hours, whether the fillet is large or 
small. That length of time is needed to 
make the stubborn fibre of the meat di- 
gestible. 

JUNE 27TH 

" Reserve the feast ! The board forsake — 
Ne'er tap the wine — don't cut the cake — 
No toasts or foohsh speeches make 
At which my reason spurns." 

— Hood ("Poems")- 

DELICIOUS old fashioned "del- 
icate" cake is made by creaming 
together one cupful of butter with 
two of sugar, then slowly adding one 
cupful of sweet milk and the whites of 
eight eggs, beaten to a stiff froth. Fi- 
nally mix in, with as little stirring as 
possible, three cupfuls of sifted flour in 
which has been stirred three teaspoon- 
fuls of baking-powder. Flavor with 
one teaspoonful of almond extract. The 
addition at the last of a cupful of 
blanched and chopped almonds, with an 

113 



icing which is ornamented with rings of 
whole blanched almonds, transforms this 
into a christening cake of the most or- 
thodox type. 

JUNE 28th 

"Mine eyes smell onions, I shall weep anon." 
—Shakespeare ("All's Well That Ends Well"). 

SPANISH onion is eaten as a salad 
without cooking, mixing it with the 
white, inner leaves of lettuce. Peel 
the onion, and, not to let the "eyes smell" 
it too weepingly, do it under water. 
Shred the onion fine. Put the lettuce 
leaves and onion shavings in a bowl, 
cover with a French dressing of six ta- 
blespoonfuls of oil, three of vinegar, half 
a teaspoonful of salt, and a pinch of pep- 
per. The young, small garden onions in 
the early Spring are often eaten raw with 
a simple dressing, and also mixed with 
cucumbers and radishes. 

JUNE 29TH 

"What's the Latin name for parsley?" — Brown- 
ing ("Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister"). 

PARSLEY butter is very nice for 
fish, flesh, or fowl, and still nicer 
for boiled potatoes. Add to half 
a cup of butter a tablespoonful of lemon- 
114 



juice, one of chopped parsley, half a tea- 
spoonful of salt and the same amount of 
paprika. Beat thoroughly, and if it is 
to be used for fish stir in a teaspoonful 
of capers. 



JUNE 30TH ■ 

"There is such a beautiful piece of cold beef in 
the larder; do somebody ask for a little slice of it." 
— Thackeray ("Memorials of Gormandizing"). 

IN roasting beef that is not to be 
eaten until it is cold especial care 
needs to be taken to keep the juices 
in. If a rib roast is chosen, have the 
ribs removed and the meat rolled and 
securely tied with twine, a couple of 
skewers fastening the end. Put in a 
very hot oven for ten minutes to sear the 
surface, or, if that is not practicable, pour 
a little boiling water over it, dredge with 
flour and set in an oven where it will 
cook fast for fifteen minutes. Cool your 
oven, or remove to one not so hot ; allow 
ten minutes to a pound ; baste often, and 
when done season with salt and pepper 
and butter. Let it get entirely cold be- 
fore putting on the ice. 



"S 



JULY 1ST 

"The dinner was as well-dressed as any I ever 
saw. The venison was roasted to a turn — and 
everybody said they never saw so fat a haunch. 
The soup was fifty times better than what we had 
at the Lucases' last week; and even Mr. Darcy 
acknowledged that the partridges were uncom- 
monly well done." — Jane Austen ("Pride and 
Prejudice"). 

SORREL soup has a peculiarly ap- 
petizing sound and its flavor corre- 
sponds. In the country it may be 
made by cooking the sorrel as you would 
spinach until it is tender and adding it 
to white stock slightly thickened and 
seasoned with salt and very little white 
pepper. In large cities it is now pos- 
sible to get a bottled sorrel puree pre- 
pared in France which is almost as good 
as the fresh sorrel to use for soups and 
sauces. 

JULY 2D 

"That last cherry soothes a roughness of my 
palate." — Robert Browning ("Fust and His 
Friends "). 

STONE three pounds of cherries ; 
put them in a preserving kettle with 
two pounds of granulated sugar 
mixed through them ; simmer till they 
begin to shrivel ; then strain them from 
the juice ; dry them in a cool oven, being 
ii6 



careful not to have them cook more. 
Spread them out on plates to finish 
drying. 

JULY 3D 

"Beamish got the flowers. ... I only stood 
the cakes. Now, then, Catharine you must make 
tea, please." — Annie Thackeray ("The Village on 
the ClifF"). 

TO make very rich jumbles that 
will keep indefinitely (unless 
eaten) take a large cup of but- 
ter, two heaping cups of powdered sugar, 
four eggs, the juice and rind of two 
lemons, half a nutmeg, a small half tea- 
spoonful of soda, with just milk enough 
to dissolve it, and flour to make it as soft 
a dough as will roll out. Roll very thin 
until the dough is nearly transparent, 
sprinkle with granulated sugar, cut out 
with a cookie cutter and bake in a quick 
oven. 

JULY 4TH 

"Next came a great piece of salmon, likewise 
on a silver dish." — Thackeray ("The History of 
Samuel Titmarsh"). 

SEW the fish into a coarse cloth or 
mosquito netting and boil twelve 
minutes to the pound in salted 
water, to which the juice of a couple of 
"7 



lemons has been added. Serve with Hol- 
landaise sauce. 

Rule for sauce : Beat half a cup of 
butter creamy, add the yolks of four raw 
eggs and blend with the butter. Then 
add a tablespoonful and a half of lemon- 
juice, half a teaspoonful of salt, and a 
pinch of cayenne pepper. Place the bowl 
in a pan of boiling water, add a third of 
a cupful of boiling water to the mix- 
ture and cook until it thickens, beating 
it continually. 



JULY 5TH 

"Found the fowl duly brown, both back and 
breast." — Robert Browning ("The Ring and the 
Book"). 

MARYLAND fried chicken has 
a fame dating back long " befo' 
de wah." The old mammies fry 
thin slices of bacon in the pan, then turn 
their young chickens, cut up as for 
fricassee, salted and peppered and rolled 
in flour, into the hot fat. Fry till each 
piece is a beautiful brown. Take the 
chicken and bacon out of the pan and put 
them in the oven to keep hot. Stir into 
the gravy a tablespoonful of flour, and 
when it browns add a pint of rich cream. 
Serve with hot soda biscuits. 
ii8 



JULY 6th 

"Jars of pickles and preserves, and cheeses and 
boiled hams, and rounds of beef, arranged on the 
shelves in the most tempting and delicious array." 
— Charles Dickens ("Pickwick Papers"). 

FILL glass jars with large cherries, 
stemmed but not stoned. Boil to- 
gether for ten minutes a pint of 
vinegar, four tablespoonfuls of white 
sugar, twelve whole cloves, twelve whole 
allspice, six blades of mace and some 
stick cinnamon. Allow the vinegar to 
cool, strain and pour over the cherries, 
sealing the jars. This will be about 
the right quantity of vinegar for two 
quarts of cherries. 



JULY 7TH 

"After this a stewed pigeon, faced by greengage 
tart, and some yellow cream twenty-four hours old; 
item, an iced pudding." — Charles Reade ("It 
Is Never Too Late To Mend"). 

WHIP a pint and a half of rich 
cream, sweeten with half a 
cupful of powdered sugar and 
add half a pint of crushed ripe rasp- 
berries. Beat well, put into a mould and 
pack with ice and rock salt, and allow 
to stand for three hours. 
119 



JULY 8th 

"One of those young women who almost invari- 
ably, though one hardly knows why, recall to one's 
mind the idea of a cold fillet of veal." — Charles 
Dickens ("Sketches by Boz"). 

ONE of the best ways to remove 
the objectionable features from 
cold veal is to slice it as thin as 
possible with a sharp knife ; marinade 
with a dressing of two tablespoonfuls 
each of oil and vinegar, a saltspoonful 
of salt and half as much pepper. Let 
it stand in the dressing two hours, then 
pile lightly on lettuce leaves, cover with 
mayonnaise and garnish with hard 
boiled eggs cut in lengthwise quarters. 



JULY 9TH 

" Bless my soul ! our words used to come out like 
brandy-cherries; but now a sentence is like rasp- 
berry jam, on the stage and off." — Charles Reade 
("Peg Wofiington"). 

TO brandy cherries pack glass jars 
with the fruit (white cherries are 
best for this purpose) ; to each 
jar allow four heaping tablespoonfuls of 
granulated sugar, putting a layer of 
cherries, then sugar, and so on till the 
jars are full. Then pour in brandy till 



no more can be put in. Fasten down the 
tops, put the jars in a dark place, and 
after a few weeks the cherries will be 
ready to use. 



JULY lOTH 

"I was just in the act of despatching the last 
morsel of the most savoury stewed lamb and rice, 
which had formed my meal." — Thackeray ("The 
Tremendous Adventures of Major Gahagan"). 

CUT a pound of meat from the 
breast of lamb. Put into a frying- 
pan with an onion which has been 
minced and fried brown in hot butter. 
Cook for a few moments over a hot fire 
until the meat has browned slightly. 
Then add a teaspoonful of paprika and 
a tablespoonful of flour and cook five 
minutes longer before adding two cup- 
fuls of hot lamb broth. Season with salt 
to taste and the juice of one lemon and 
stew very slowly until the lamb is tender. 
Serve with boiled rice. 



121 



JULY iiTH 

"The soup was a sort of puree -of dried peas, 
which Mademoiselle had prepared amidst bitter lam- 
entations that in this desolate country of England 
no haricot beans were to be had." — Charlotte 
Bronte ("Shirley"). 

THE beans of Mademoiselle's 
lamentation were not the "haricot 
vert" of which modern visitors 
to Paris hear and see so much, but lima, 
or, possibly, kidney beans. The simplest 
way has never been improved upon, and 
they are best cooked in boiling water for 
about half an hour, then drained dry, 
put in the serving dish, which should be 
hot, seasoned with salt and pepper, and 
a spoonful of butter stirred quickly 
through them. 

JULY I2TH 

"They were such trouts as, when once tasted, 
remain forever in the recollection of the commonly 
grateful mind— rich, flaky, or creamy, full of flavour." 
— Thackeray ("The Irish Sketch-Book"). 

CLEAN the fish, wash it, and dry 
it carefully. Salt and pepper it 
and roll it in flour. Butter an oys- 
ter broiler and lay the fish, without hav- 
ing been split, upon it. Broil over clear 
coals. Serve on a hot platter with butter 
and parsley. 



JULY 13TH 

"It was near half an hour before we could get 
her to finish a pint of raspberry between us." — 
Goldsmith ("The Good-Natured Man"). 

PUT fine dry raspberries into a 
stone jar, and the jar into a kettle 
of water till the juice runs ; strain 
and to every pint add half a pound of 
sugar, let it boil up once and skim it. 
When cold put equal quantities of juice 
and brandy in bottles, shake well and 
seal. 



JULY 14TH 

"Sending a plate of muflSns across the table at 
poor me." — Thackeray. 

THACKERAY would not have 
pitied himself had the muffins 
been the little huckleberry ones 
beloved of men and children. Into a 
quart of flour sift two teaspoonfuls of 
baking powder and one of salt. Beat 
three eggs, yolks and whites separately, 
and into the yolks stir three cups of milk, 
a tablespoonful of melted butter and a 
pint of huckleberries, well dredged with 
an additional cup of flour. Beat for two 
or three minutes, add the whites of the 
eggs and bake in patty pans. 
123 



JULY 15TH 

" I protest I do honor a chine of beef, I do rever- 
ence a loin of veal." — Beaumont and Fletcher 
("Woman Hater ")• 

A LOIN of veal is a dish worthy of 
reverence, and if properly cooked 
it is suited to ordinary digestions, 
despite its bad name. Remove the bone 
from the meat ; season the latter highly 
with salt and pepper, and skewer into 
shape. Cover with sheets of buttered 
white paper tied around it. Fry a few 
slices of pork, a sliced onion, and three 
tablespoonfuls of flour until brown. Add 
three pints of water and a cup of stewed 
tomatoes. Place the veal in a roasting- 
pan, pour the gravy around it, and cook 
in a slow oven three hours and a half. It 
will be both tender and savory. Remove 
the sheets of paper after the first hour. 



JULY I 6th 

"'Very well,' I cried, 'that's a good girl. I find 
you are perfectly qualified for making converts, and 
so go and help your mother to make the goose- 
berry-pie.' " — Goldsmith ("Vicar of Wakefield"). 

GOOSEBERRIES make a very 
good tart, especially if combined 
with currant juice. Choose ber- 
ries that are not over-ripe, put in a pre- 

124 



serving kettle with half a pint of cur- 
rant juice to each pound of berries. 
When they begin to boil, crush them with 
a spoon and add sugar in the proportion 
of three-quarters of a pound to a pound 
of fruit. Simmer slowly for five or 
six hours. Fill pie-crust shells and put 
a lattice of crust over the top. 



JULY 17TH 

"When he actually refused currant and rasp- 
berry tart — the good Hannah was alarmed." — 
Thackeray ("The Newcomes"). 

LINE a pie-dish with paste, wash it 
over with white of egg and fill with 
currants and raspberries, carefully 
picked over. Sweeten lavishly and cover 
with strips of the pastry crossed in a 
lattice pattern. Bake half an hour in 
a good oven. 

JULY i8th 

"The odor of that spicy cake came back upon 
my recollection." — Charles Lamb ("Essays of 
Elia"). 

FOR a spice cake beat together one 
egg, two-thirds of a cupful each 
of molasses, sugar, and butter, one 
cupful of milk, two cupfuls and a half 
of flour, into which has been sifted two 

125 



teaspoonfuls of baking powder ; one ta- 
blespoonful of mixed spice, and one 
tablespoonful of lemon juice and a little 
of the grated rind. Bake in a moderate 
oven. 

JULY 19TH 

"They had seldom seen him eat so heartily at any 
table but his own; and never before known him 
so little disconcerted by the melted butter's being 
oiled." — Jane Austen ("Northanger Abbey"). 

TO melt butter without having it 
oil needs only a little care. Mix 
one teaspoonful of flour with a 
quarter of a pound of good butter. Put 
it into a small saucepan with two or 
three tablespoonfuls of hot water, shak- 
ing it all the time. Milk used instead of 
water makes a whiter sauce and is a 
little richer. 

JULY 20TH 

" A clear soup, a bit of fish, a couple of little en- 
trees and a nice little roast. That's my kind of a 
dinner." — Thackeray ("Diary of C. James de la 
Pluche, Esq."). 

A DELICIOUS entree for a dinner 
is made from calf's liver boiled un- 
til tender, cut into bits, and rather 
highly seasoned with salt, paprika, a lit- 
tle Worcestershire sauce, and just a hint 
126 



of mushroom catsup. Mix the seasoning 
thoroughly through the Hver, heat it, and 
when ready to serve moisten with a httle 
sherry or good Madeira. This may be 
served in paper shells, ramakins, or puff 
paste shells. 



JULY 2IST 

"Cowcumbers are cold in the third degree." — 
Swift. 

USE only fresh cucumbers which 
have had no chance to wilt in 
the sun. Pare off not only the 
green outside but most of the tough white 
about the seeds. Slice thin and allow to 
stand in iced water for a half hour before 
eating. Serve with cracked ice in the 
dish, passing French dressing with the 
cucumbers. Some people like a little 
shredded chives with the cucumbers, and 
the appearance of the dish is thereby im- 
proved. 



127 



JULY 22D 

"She praised the cook this time, declared the 
fricassee was excellent, and that there were no eels 
anywhere like those of the Castlewood moats." 
— Thackeray ("Virginians"). 

SKIN and clean the eel, removing all 
the fat ; cut in short lengths, leave 
in olive oil and vinegar for half an 
hour, salt and pepper ; roll in egg and 
cracker dust, and fry in deep fat. 



JULY 23D 

"A little Stilton cheese brought up the rear with 
a nice salad. This made way for a foolish trifling 
dessert of muscatel grapes, guava jelly, and divers 
kickshaws diluted with agreeable wines." — Charles 
Reade ("It Is Never Too Late To Mend"). 

A "CALEDONIAN trifle" may 
sound foolish, but it tastes good. 
Its ingredients are : Eight eggs, a 
quart of milk, a teacupful of sugar, a tea- 
spoonful of almond extract, a saltspoon- 
ful of salt, and half a tumbler of rasp- 
berry jam. Reserve the whites of three 
eggs and the raspberry jam and make a 
boiled custard of the other ingredients. 
Beat the whites of three eggs into a stiff 
froth for the top of the custard and dot 
with the jam. 

128 



JULY 24TH 

" Uninebriate liquors, pressed from cooling f rioits, 
sweetened with honey, and deliciously iced." — BuL- 
WER ("My Novel"). 

FOR a fine fruit punch, mix one 
cupful of lemon juice, two cupfuls 
of fruit juice, strawberry, rasp- 
berry, or cherry (or a combination of 
the three), with one cupful of grated 
pineapple, two quarts of water, one cup- 
ful of sugar, and three-quarters of a 
cupful of strained honey. Serve ice-cold. 
A cupful of sugar may be substituted for 
the honey. 



JULY 25TH 

"A nice tongue, not too green nor too salt, and 
a small saddle of six-tooth mutton, home-bred, 
home-fed." — Charles Reade ("It Is Never Too 
Late To Mend"). 

TONGUE should be soaked several 
hours before cooking — over night 
is usually best. Place it in a kettle 
with cold water, letting it come slowly 
to the boiling point and simmer for three 
or four hours, until it is very tender. 
Test by piercing with a fork. Let it 
cool in the liquor in which it was boiled ; 
skin carefully, beginning at the tip. 
129 



JULY 26th 

"Even cream, sugar, tea, toast . . . and 
eggs, even they have their moral." — Charles 
Dickens ("Martin Chuzzlewit"). 

TO make rum omelette, break six 
eggs into a bowl, add three table- 
spoonfuls of milk and a little salt ; 
beat until light. Turn into a hot frying 
pan in which a piece of butter has been 
melted, and shake the pan until the eggs 
begin to set. Fold over while the inside 
is still very creamy and serve. At the 
table pour over the omelette three or four 
tablespoonfuls of rum, sprinkle well with 
sugar, and light the liquor that runs 
down into the plate, basting the omelette 
with it until the flame is extinguished. 



JULY 27TH 

"Aslaug on her knees 
Knelt by the brightening fire and dropped 
The meal into the pot." 
—William Morris ("The Earthly Paradise"). 

ASLAUG could not have pro- 
vided a better dish than the 
simple corn meal mush made by 
" wetting up " corn meal in cold water 
until there are no lumps, then stirring 
it gradually into salted boiling water 
130 



until — an old recipe dictates — it is so 
thick the " stick " will stand in it. The 
stick is the wooden paddle which is now 
sold at every house-furnishing store, and 
used to be made from a broomstick han- 
dle. The mush should boil slowly two 
hours. When cold fry in slices half an 
inch thick first dipped in egg. 



JULY 28th 

"Three days out of the seven, indeed, both man 
and master dined on nothing else but the vegetables 
in the garden, and the fishes in the neighboring rill." 
— BxTLWER ("My Novel"). 

AN excellent salad dressing for 
cold garden vegetables is made 
thus : Stir together a tablespoon- 
ful each of salt, oil, and sugar. Add a ta- 
blespoonful of mustard and three raw 
eggs. When well mixed add slowly a cup 
of vinegar and lastly a cup of milk. Put 
in a double boiler and stir until the mix- 
ture is as thick as custard. Cool and place 
on ice. The vinegar will not curdle the 
milk if this order of mixing the ingre- 
dients is followed. The dressing will 
keep for two or three weeks in a refrig- 
erator. 

131 



JULY 29TH 

"Thanks to his clasp-knife, he was able to ap- 
propriate a wing of fowl and a slice of ham ; a cant- 
let of cold custard-pudding he thought would har- 
monize with these articles." — Charlotte Bronte 
("Shirley"). 

A DELICIOUS custard pudding 
may be made from this well tried 
recipe : Beat five eggs and add 
to them five tablespoonfuls of sugar and 
the grated rind of an orange, a pint and 
a half of rich milk and half a teaspoon- 
ful of salt. Mix well and pour into small 
tin moulds, buttered and sugared before 
they are filled. Set the puddings in a 
pan of warm water and place in a mod- 
erate oven. Bake three-quarters of an 
hour, or until they are firm in the centre. 
Serve with a sauce made of two well 
beaten eggs, half a teaspoonful of flour, 
a teaspoonful of corn-starch and two of 
sugar. Mix these ingredients lightly to- 
gether and beat into them a cup and a 
half of boiling milk. Stir over the fire 
until the thickness of rich cream, then 
add a gill of sherry. Stir again for a 
couple of minutes and pour over the 
custards. 



132 



JULY 30TH 

"What say you to a piece of beef and mustard? 
A dish that I do love." — Shakespeare ("Taming 
of the Shrew"). 

PLAIN boiled beef can occasionally 
be substituted with profit for the 
usual roast or steak, and it is made 
very acceptable by serving with it a good 
mustard sauce, made by adding to one 
teacupful of boiling stock a tablespoonful 
of butter rubbed into a teaspoonful of 
flour, a tablespoonful of French mustard, 
a teaspoonful of dry English mustard, a 
tablespoonful of vinegar, a teaspoonful 
of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, and 
a dash or two of paprika. 



JULY 3 1 ST 

"That good fellow washed the greens, and peeled 
the turnips, and broke the plates, and upset iron 
pots full of cold water on the fire and made himself 
useful in all sorts of ways." — Charles Dickens 
("Cricket on the Hearth"). 






HE Swiss chard makes a deli- 

■ cious summer green, with a more 

JL piquant flavor than spinach. 

Wash carefully, throw into a saucepan 

with the water still clinging to the leaves ; 

let it cook slowly till the juices are 

133 



drawn out, then let it boil until tender. 
Drain in a colander, chop fine. Return 
to the fire and season. To half a peck 
add a large tablespoonful of butter, half 
a teaspoonful of salt, and a dash of pep- 
per. Two tablespoonfuls of cream may 
be used in place of the butter. 



AUGUST 1ST 

"Requesting a supply of a puree a la bisque aux 
ecrivisse, the clumsy attendant who served him let 
fall the assiette of vermeille cisele." — Thackeray. 

PUREE a la bisque aux ecrivisse, or, 
in plain English, crab soup, is made 
by melting in a saucepan one table- 
spoonful of butter ; when hot add two 
small onions, minced, and one sweet green 
pepper, cut up, with the seeds left out ; 
one large tomato, peeled and sliced thin ; 
season with salt and paprika. Add the 
meat of four boiled crabs with a very 
little water and stew ten minutes. Heat 
three cupfuls of rich milk in a separate 
vessel. Thicken with one tablespoonful 
of flour, rubbed in two of butter ; add a 
bit of soda, season with salt and paprika ; 
take from the fire and stir with the crab 
meat. Pour over croutons and serve. 
134 



AUGUST 2D 

"The bones of a green frog too, wondrous pre- 
cious." — MiDDLETON ("The Witch"). 

WASH frogs' legs in cold salted 
water, drain and scald, then let 
them simmer an hour in boiled 
milk. Remove from the milk when cool, 
take the flesh oflf the bones, and cut it 
into small pieces. Make a rich cream 
sauce ; add the frog meat, seasoned with 
salt and red pepper, and a little lemon 
juice. Fill patty shells with the mixture 
and cook in a hot oven ten minutes. 



AUGUST 3D 

"And hence this halo lives about 
The waiter's hands, that reach 
To each his perfect pint of stout, 
His proper chop to each." 

— Tennyson ("Will Waterproof"). 

THE chops from the leg, properly 
" cutlets," the best served breaded, 
and are prepared by trimming 
the cutlets, seasoning with salt and pep- 
per, dipping in bread crumbs, then in 
beaten egg, again in bread crumbs, and 
frying them in smoking hot fat. If the 
chops are to be well done, ten minutes 
will be about the right time for frying, 
135 



four to six if rare. Tomato sauce is a 
desirable addition, but not a necessity. 

AUGUST 4TH 

"The dear, dear muflSns of home!" — Thackeray 
("The Adventures of Philip"). 

MIX a quart of sifted flour with 
a quart of milk (warmed), in 
which half a cupful of butter 
has been melted ; half a yeast cake, dis- 
solved in a little warm water, and three 
well beaten eggs. Set to rise. When 
light bake in muffin tins in a quick oven. 

AUGUST 5TH 

"The Moor leans on his cushion 
With the pipe between his lips, 
And still at frequent intervals 
The sweet sherbet he sips." — HoOD. 

ANY fruit juice makes good sher- 
bet, but the juice of blackberries 
(Emerson's '' Ethiops sweet") is 
particularly delicious, especially if the 
wild fruit can be obtained. Crush three 
quarts of the berries with a pint of 
sugar and let them stand for a couple 
of hours. Add a quart of water and the 
juice of half a dozen lemons. Boil for 
twenty minutes, then strain, and after 
136 



it is cool, freeze in an old-fashioned 
freezer, beating it well before packing. 

AUGUST 6th 

"Please not a seed-cake, but a plum-cake." — 
Thackeray. 

LITTLE " plum-cakes " much 
prized in New England, which 
go by the name of " Hermits," are 
made by creaming together half a cup 
of butter and one of sugar ; then adding 
a tablespoonful of milk and two lightly 
beaten eggs. When these are well 
mixed add two cups of flour into which 
has been stirred a heaping teaspoonful 
of baking powder and a cupful of stoned 
and chopped raisins. Roll about a quar- 
ter of an inch thick, using a little flour 
to keep from sticking. Cut in rounds 
and bake ten to fifteen minutes. 



AUGUST 7TH 

"Banish, dear Mrs. Cook, I beseech you, the 
whole onion tribe." — Charles Lamb ("Essays of 
Elia"). 

PROBABLY escalloped onions 
were not in Lamb's mind when he 
uttered his wholesale condemna- 
tion, for they are much the least offensive 
137 



to a sensitive nose. Boil the onions in 
three quarts of water for an hour, 
changing the water once. When tender, 
drain off the water and cut into small 
pieces ; put in a shallow baking dish and 
pour over them a cream sauce ; sprinkle 
with a cupful of bread crumbs, a table- 
spoonful of butter or grated rich cheese. 



AUGUST 8th 

"A previously hearty sirloin of beef looked as 
if it had been suddenly seized with the palsy." — 
Charles Dickens ("Sketches by Boz"). 

WHEN the sirloin has been re- 
duced to this condition it is 
not attractive on the table, and 
if it has fortunately been cooked de- 
cidedly rare it can be served as a " dry 
devil " very acceptably. Make a paste 
of three tablespoonfuls of oil, two of 
dry mustard, a teaspoonful of salt, half 
a teaspoonful of black pepper, and rather 
less of paprika. Spread the paste over 
the slices of rare beef and dredge liber- 
ally with flour. Have a very hot frying 
pan, put in it three tablespoonfuls of 
butter, as needed, cook quickly, and serve 
as soon as done on a hot dish. If a still 
hotter dish is desired, increase the mus- 
tard and add cayenne. 
138 



AUGUST 9TH 

" Bestrew'd with lettuce and cool salad herbs. " — 
Beaumont and Fletcher ("Woman Hater"). 

THERE are very few vegetables 
that do not make an excellent 
addition to a macedoine salad — 
the " cool salad herbs " are almost un- 
limited. A few boiled potatoes, a plateful 
of lima or string beans, of peas, carrots, 
spinach, or boiled onion, may be har- 
moniously joined with uncooked celery, 
cress, or lettuce, and may be blended with 
a mayonnaise dressing and garnished 
with olives or capers or sliced cucumber 
pickle, or may be served with a simple 
French dressing poured over them. 



AUGUST lOTH 

"The coffee was boiling over a charcoal fire, and 
large slices of bread and butter were piled one upon 
the other like deals in a lumber yard." — Charles 
Dickens ("Sketches by Boz"). 

MUCH as French and Vienna 
coffee have grown in popular 
favor, some occasions and some 
people demand the old-fashioned sort, 
which may be made clear and delicious. 
Put in a bowl one heaping tablespoonful 
of ground coffee for each person and 
one for the pot ; add to it sufficient water 

139 



to moisten it thoroughly ; put into the 
pot with as many cupfuls of boiHngf 
water as you have tablespoonfuls of 
coffee, less one. Add the crushed shell 
of an egg, or a little of the egg itself, 
beaten up with water, and allow it to 
come slowly to the boiling ; let it boil two 
or three minutes ; take from the fire, 
put in a cup of cold water to settle it ; 
put it back on the fire ; let it stand for a 
few minutes and pour into the serving 
pot, which should be hot. 



AUGUST iiTH 

"There was a ripe melon, a fish from the river 
in a memorable Bearnaise sauce, a fat fowl in 
a fricassee and a dish of asparagus followed by a 
dish of fruit."— Robert Louis Stevenson ("The 
Treasure of Frauchard"). 

A PRESENT fashion for serving 
the small cantaloupes, or musk- 
melons, is thoroughly to chill the 
melons on ice; just before serving cut 
in halves and remove the seeds, putting 
in each half melon a large spoonful of 
ice cream, and for this purpose a rather 
plain cream is preferred. For those 
whose digestions warrant it this is an 
agreeable way of combining two favorite 
dishes. 

140 



AUGUST I2TH 

"In reply to her sarcastic inquiry, he artlessly 
owned that he should like another cheese-cake." — 
Thackeray ("The Virginians"). 

MIX the curd of three quarts of 
milk, a pound of currants, twelve 
ounces of sugar, a quarter of an 
ounce of cinnamon, the same of nutmeg, 
the peel of one lemon, chopped to a 
paste, the yolks of eight and whites of 
six eggs, a pint of scalded cream and a 
glass of brandy. Put a light thin puff- 
paste in patty pans and three quarters 
fill them. 



AUGUST I3TH 

"There's a pillau, Joseph, just as you like it, and 
papa has brought the best turbot in Billingsgate." 
— Thackeray ("Vanity Fair"). 

FOR a Turkish pillau boil a fowl as 
for fricassee ; add to the water 
in which it is boiled a teacup- 
ful of rice, half a teacupful of raisins, 
the same amount of blanched almonds, 
and a red pepper pod, from which the 
seeds have been carefully removed. 
Serve with the chicken. It will be a 
very hot dish. 

141 



AUGUST 14TH 

"He relieved the bag of a bottle of wine, slices 
of meat, hard eggs, and lettuce, a chipped cup to 
fling away after drinking the wine." — George 
Meredith ("The Amazing Marriage"). 

AN excellent variation on the hard- 
boiled eggs of picnics or luncheon 
baskets is to make them into salad 
eggs. Remove the shells, cut in halves, 
take out the yolks, and with a silver fork 
rub them smooth ; stir in oil and vinegar 
in the proportion of one spoonful of vin- 
egar to two of oil ; season with salt and 
paprika. Replace in the whites and press 
together. They are very appetizing on 
a journey. 



AUGUST 15TH 

"And lo! two puddings smoked upon the board." 
— Pope. 

A SMOKING corn-pudding is a 
pleasant sight when the mercury 
is low in summer. Scrape a dozen 
ears of full-grown corn by slitting each 
row of kernels with a sharp knife, and 
then with the back of the knife scraping 
all the soft part out, leaving the empty 
hull on the cob. Add a pint of 
jmilk, a cup of sugar, a teaspoonful 
142 



of salt and a tablespoonful of melted 
butter. Bake three hours in a moderate 
oven. This dish may be prepared in 
winter from canned corn, and makes an 
excellent variety in vegetables to serve 
with meat if the sugar is left out. 



AUGUST i6th 

"Have you sent to the apothecary for a sufficient 
quantity of cream of tartar to make lemonade?" — 
Coleman ("Man and Wife"). 

IF we want lemonade as nearly 
perfect as possible, we use freshly 
boiled water. This rule has borne 
the test of repeated trial : For a quart 
of lemonade take the juice of four lemons 
and the rind of one, carefully peeled off 
to get just the yellow outside part. This, 
cut into pieces, is added to the juice 
and put in a covered jug or jar with three 
ounces of sugar. Pour on a quart of 
water brought to the boiling point as 
for tea. Let it stand until cold, and turn 
into a pitcher in which are thin orange 
slices and bits of pineapple. 



143 



AUGUST 17TH 

"Deeming that the sight of pickled salmon might 
work a softening change." — Charles Dickens 
("Martin Chuzzlewit"). 

ANY salmon left over may be con- 
verted into this popular dish. 
Free the fish from skin and bone. 
Make a sauce by bringing to the boiling 
point half a cupful of vinegar, two table- 
spoonfuls of lemon juice, three cloves, 
a piece of stick cinnamon, a teaspoonful 
of salt, and a pinch of paprika. As soon 
as it boils pour it over the cold salmon 
and set away to cool. It will keep a 
week or more. 



AUGUST i8th 

"That girl, sir, makes the best veal-and-ham pie 
in England, and I think I can promise ye a glass 
of punch of the right flavor." — Thackeray ("Pen- 
dennis"). 

FOR plain veal-and-ham pie cut 
two pounds of lean veal into small 
pieces, cover with cold water, add 
a cupful of boiled ham, chopped very 
fine, two onions, minced ; pepper and 
salt to taste ; stew slowly for two hours. 
At the end of that time thicken the gravy 
with two tablespoonfuls of flour, blended 
144 



with a tablespoonful of butter. Pour 
into a deep baking dish and cover with 
a crust of biscuit dough, rolled thin. 
Bake twenty minutes in a hot oven. 



AUGUST 19TH 

"How my cheeks grew red as tomatoes." — ^Rob- 
ert Browning ("A Likeness")- 

CUT large, fair tomatoes in rather 
thick slices ; do not peel, as the 
skin is needed to preserve the shape 
of the slices. Season with salt and pep- 
per, dip in beaten eggs and cracker 
crumbs and fry in butter, turning till 
brown on both sides. Lift carefully on 
to a hot platter, stir into the pan a 
scant tablespoonful of browned flour and 
three or four chopped olives. Pour over 
the tomatoes and serve. 



AUGUST 20TH 

"And one day my wife spied him with his mouth 
smeared all over with our jam-pudding." — Thack- 
eray ("Contributions to Punch"). 

SPREAD slices of bread from which 
the crusts have been cut, with plenty 
of butter and jam. Put them in a 
buttered pudding dish and cover with a 
145 



custard, made of a quart of scalded milk, 
five eggs, and a teacupful of sugar. 
When the bread has soaked up the cus- 
tard put in another layer and repeat the 
process until the dish is full. Bake half 
an hour in a slow oven. Eat with lemon 
sauce. 



AUGUST 2IST 

"Treat here, ye shepherds blithe! your damsels 

sweet. 
For pies and cheese-cakes are for damsels meet." 

—Gay. 

BUTTER a deep plate and cover 
with a plain pie crust dough ; put 
into it a mixture made by beating 
together a cupful of cottage (or pot) 
cheese and stirring into it two tablespoon- 
fuls of sugar beaten up with the yolks 
of four eggs ; add a cupful of dried cur- 
rants and half a cupful of blanched 
and chopped almonds, and, finally, the 
whipped whites of the eggs. Bake in a 
moderate oven for twenty-five to thirty 
minutes. 



T46 



AUGUST 22D 

"Like a forked radish, with a head fantastically 
carved upon it." — Shakespeare ("Henry IV."). 

THE white leaves of chicory mixed 
with thin sHces of young radishes 
and ornamented with the whole 
radishes as " fantastically carved " as 
you may choose, make a delicious mid- 
summer salad, dressed either with a 
French dressing or mayonnaise. 



AUGUST 23D 

" ' Veil,' said Sam, ' this is comin' it rayther pow- 
erful, this is. I never heard a biled leg o' mutton 
called a swarry afore. I wonder wot they'd call 
a roast one.'" — Charles Dickens ("Pickwick 
Papers"). 

REMOVE the fat from the leg of 
mutton to be boiled, and put it 
into fast boiling water. After 
fifteen minutes move to a place on the 
range where it will only simmer. Allow 
twelve minutes for each pound if you 
wish it cooked rare, fifteen minutes if 
well done. Serve with a white or butter 
sauce, to which half a cup of capers has 
been added, or, a very good substitute, 
an equal quantity of chopped gherkins. 

147 



AUGUST 24TH 

Soup, fish, — shall I have three sorts of fish? I 
will; they are cheap in this market." — Charles 
Reade ("Peg Woffington"). 

THE cheap perch may be made into 
a tempting dish for luncheon or 
dinner when stewed and served 
with an oyster sauce. Put half a dozen 
perch into a kettle with half a pint of 
boiling water, in which has been dissolved 
a teaspoonful of salt. Cook five minutes. 
To make the sauce, heat twenty-five oys- 
ters in their liquor. When they begin to 
boil take out the oysters and skim the 
liquor. Add to it a cupful of sweet milk 
and cream, and when it boils add a table- 
spoonful of butter and flour rubbed to- 
gether. Season with salt and pepper; 
add the oysters, let it boil up once. Pour 
the sauce in a dish and add the fish. 



AUGUST 25TH 

"An exquisite and poignant sauce, for which I'll 
say unto my cook, 'There's gold, go forth and be a 
knight.'" — Ben Jonson ("The Alchemist"). 

BEARNAISE sauce is the most 
delicate of poignant sauces to eat 
with fish or to serve with any kind 
of meat or fish croquettes. It is made 
148 



of the yolks of four eggs, four table- 
spoonfuls of butter, half a teaspoonful 
of vinegar, a dash of cayenne pepper, 
three teaspoonfuls of lemon juice and 
one of tarragon vinegar, one teaspoonful 
of onion juice, one of chopped parsley 
and one of capers. Stir the butter in a 
hot cup until creamy ; add the beaten 
yolks of the eggs. Then add all the 
other ingredients, except the parsley and 
capers, and beat again. Cook over boil- 
ing water for three minutes, stirring 
constantly; add the parsley and capers, 
and serve at once. 



AUGUST 26th 

"Miss Barker, in her former sphere, had, I dare 
say, been made acquainted with the beverage they 
call cherry-brandy." — Mrs. Gaskell (" Cranford"). 

THE wild cherries are used for 
the cherry brandy or "cherry 
bounce" so familiar to readers of 
English novels. Wash the cherries ; 
crush them slightly, and allow five table- 
spoonfuls of sugar to each quart jar ; 
when the cherries and sugar are well 
mixed in the jars, pour in as much good 
brandy as will percolate through the 
spaces not filled by the fruit. Renew as 
it becomes absorbed, until the liquor 
149 



stands on top. Screw on the covers and 
leave for four months. Then turn the 
contents into a bowl ; crush with a po- 
tato masher. Excellent for coughs and 
to serve as an after-dinner liqueur. 



AUGUST 27TH 

"My wife desired some damsons, and made me 
climb." — Shakespeare ("Henry IV."). 

DAMSONS should be either 
scalded and the skins removed or 
pricked in many places with a 
large needle. Weigh the fruit and allow 
to each pound three-quarters of a pound 
of sugar. Make a syrup by adding a 
cupful of water to each pound of sugar, 
and let it come to the boiling point. 
When it boils, skim it till clear and put 
in the plums a few at a time. When 
they are soft, lift them carefully into 
jars and let the syrup simmer gently for 
three-quarters of an hour, or until it has 
thickened to sufficient richness. 



ISO 



AUGUST 28th 

"She sat down in solitude to cold tea and the 
drum-sticks of the chicken." — Mrs. Gaskell 
("Wives and Daughters"). 

FOR chicken maitre d'hotel put 
into the chafing dish a tablespoon- 
ful of butter, and when hot add the 
chicken ; cook until a Hght brown on 
each side ; season with salt and paprika ; 
squeeze over the meat the juice of a 
lemon ; add a little parsley or watercress, 
and serve. 



AUGUST 29TH 

" 'Why, what am I a-thinking of!' said Toby. 
'I shall forget my own name next. It's tripe!'" 
— Charles Dickens ("The Chimes"). 

SOMETIMES tripe by another 
name is agreeable to those who 
have eaten it soggy, half-cooked, 
and cold, and still retain the gloomy 
recollection. Cooked as follows, they 
would not recognize it : Soak the tripe 
six hours, scrape clean, and simmer for 
three hours longer. Then cut it into dice 
and fry it in hot fat with some minced 
chives. Cover it with boiling water, add 
a couple of tomatoes, a stalk of celery, 
chopped, and a spoonful of chopped pars- 
151 



ley, and stew gently for an hour, or until 
the tripe is perfectly tender. Season 
with salt and a little paprika, add a cup 
of hot cream thickened with flour to the 
sauce, and serve very hot. 



AUGUST 30TH 

"Salmon, Iamb, peas, innocent young potatoes, 
a cool salad, sliced cucumber, a tender duckling — 
all there." — Charles Dickens ("Martin Chuzzle- 
wit"). 

SLICED cucumbers may be enjoyed 
all winter by preparing them when 
they are fresh after this recipe : 
Take two dozen large cucumbers and six 
small onions, pared and sliced very thin ; 
place them in layers in a large jar, sprin- 
kle salt on each layer. After standing 
six hours, drain thoroughly and cover 
with a dressing made of one cupful of 
olive oil, one quart of vinegar, one-half 
cupful each of white and black mustard 
seed and two tablespoonfuls of celery 
seed. Let it stand for twenty-four hours, 
and if necessary add vinegar enough to 
cover; put in jars and do not open for 
three or four months. 



152 



AUGUST 31ST 

"Where other people would make preserves 
He turns his fruit into pickles." — Hood. 

THE old-fashioned housekeeper 
frequently turned her fruit into 
pickles with excellent result. 
Peaches make on the whole the best 
sweet pickle, and the following is a good 
rule : Peel white peaches, and to every 
pound of fruit allow half a pound of 
sugar. Place sugar and fruit in a pre- 
serving kettle and bring to a boil. To 
three pounds of fruit allow one cup of 
vinegar and a tablespoonful each of 
mace, cinnamon, and cloves, tied up in 
little bags not to discolor the fruit. Pour 
the spiced vinegar over the fruit and boil 
fifteen minutes. Remove the fruit, and 
put it carefully into glass jars. Boil the 
syrup down until quite thick, pour over 
the fruit in the jars, and seal. 



153 



SEPTEMBER ist 

"He . . . beat up yolks of eggs in neat Schied- 
am and administered it in small doses, followed this 
up by meat stewed in red wine and water, shredding 
into both mild febrifugal herbs that did no harm." — • 
Charles Reade ("The Cloister and the Hearth"). 

AN egg cocktail is an excellent 
appetizer and more nourishing 
than its spirituous prototype. Mix 
for each cocktail a tablespoonful of 
lemon juice, a few drops of Tabasco 
sauce, a tablespoonful of sherry or Ma- 
deira, and a well-beaten egg. It should 
be served in a tall glass and eaten with 
a long-handled spoon. 



SEPTEMBER 2d 

"Nor hears with pain 
New oysters cry'd, nor sighs for cheerful ale." 
— John Philips. 

WHEN the oysters are new each 
autumn and a fresh pleasure, 
the simplest method of prepar- 
ing them seems best, and to those to 
whom raw oysters do not appeal an ap- 
petizing way to serve them is roasted 
in the shell. They need only be washed 
clean and laid upon hot coals or in a 
shallow pan on the top of the range, 
154 



which should be hot. Lay the deeper 
shell next the pan ; when they open wide, 
take off the loosened upper shell — be 
careful not to spill the juice — and lay 
upon a hot platter, with a small piece of 
butter on each. Pass pepper, salt, Ta- 
basco, sliced lemon, and any other fa- 
vorite sauce. 



SEPTEMBER 30 

"If we will plant nettles, or sow lettuce." — 
Shakespeare ("Othello"). 

SHRED two heads of green lettuce 
and cook for half an hour in a quart 
of chicken stock ; rub through a 
colander and return to the fire ; stir in 
two tablespoonfuls of butter rubbed into 
one of flour, a tablespoonful of chopped 
boiled onion, and a tablespoonful of 
minced parsley. In another sauce-pan 
heat, but do not boil, a cup of milk, sea- 
soned with salt and pepper, stir in a well- 
whipped egg. Pour into the tureen and 
add the lettuce soup. Serve with strips 
of toast or crisp dinner biscuit. 



155 



SEPTEMBER 4th 

"We had delicate cucumbers stuflfed with forced 
meats. ' ' — Thackeray. 

PARE the cucumbers and cut them 
in halves. Remove the seeds. 
Drop the cucumbers into cold salted 
water and set away in a cold place. 

Make a forcemeat of breast of chicken, 
pounded to a paste, rubbed through a 
sieve, and cooked for ten minutes in a 
cupful of cream, with half a cupful of 
stale bread and seasoning of salt and 
pepper. A little onion juice is an im- 
provement if the flavor of onion is liked. 
Wipe the cucumbers dry and fill with 
the forcemeat, packing it as much as 
possible. Stew in veal stock and serve 
with a sauce of the thickened stock. 



SEPTEMBER 5th 

"After the puddings, sweet and black, the fritters 
and soup, came the third course, of which the chief 
dish was a hot venison pasty." — Thackeray ("Eng- 
lish Humourists"). 

TAKE the bones out of a shoulder 
of venison, season and beat the 
meat, cut it into large pieces, lay 
it in a stone jar, cover it with plain beef 
stock, set the jar in boiling water and 
IS6 



let the contents simmer for three or four 
hours ; then take it from the fire and 
set in a cold place until the next day. 
When ready to use remove the fat, lay 
the meat in a deep dish, season well, and 
cover with the stock gravy. Dot freely 
with lumps of butter and cover the dish 
with a thick biscuit crust. Bake in a mod- 
erate oven three-quarters of an hour. 



SEPTEMBER 6th 

"Epicurean cooks sharpen with cloyless sauce 
his appetite." — Shakespeare ("Antony and Cleo- 
patra"). 

TO make chili sauce peel a peck 
of ripe tomatoes and half a dozen 
white onions. Chop fine and put 
over the fire to cook in their own juice 
half an hour. Strain through a sieve 
and add two cups of vinegar, a table- 
spoonful each of ground cinnamon, all- 
spice, and black pepper, and a teaspoon- 
ful of cloves. Return to the fire and 
cook about four hours, or until it is 
quite thick, stirring often. When cooked 
sufficiently, add a tablespoonful of cay- 
enne pepper, two teaspoonfuls of ground 
ginger, and two tablespoonfuls, or more, 
of salt. Bottle the sauce, cork and seal. 
157 



SEPTEMBER 7th 

"Oh those melons! If he's able 
We're to have a feast! so nice!" 
— Browning ("SoHloquy of the Spanish Cloister"). 

LAY cantaloupes or muskmelons on 
the ice till thoroughly chilled. Just 
before they are needed open them 
and remove the seeds. Slice in crescent- 
shaped pieces, cut off the rind and green 
part, leaving only the pa"t that is quite 
ripe. Heap in a salad bowl with bits of 
ice and add a French dressing, or a 
mayonnaise may be used if a rich salad 
be desired. 



SEPTEMBER 8th 

"Let the sky rain potatoes." — Shakespeare 
("Merry Wives of Windsor"). 

CUT into cubes one quart of cold 
potatoes. Put into a saucepan two 
scant tablespoonfuls of flour 
rubbed into two of butter ; add one slice 
of onion, a little chopped parsley, a little 
salt and pepper, and a pint of milk. 
When hot pour a little at a time upon the 
potatoes. When the milk begins to boil 
move it back where it will only simmer, 
and let it cook five minutes. Season with 
a little more salt and pepper, and place in 
158 



a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle over the 
top a cupful of grated bread crumbs and 
a tablespoonful of butter ; bake in a 
rather hot oven for twenty minutes and 
serve promptly. 



SEPTEMBER qth 

"The next variation which their visit afforded 
was produced by the entrance of servants with cold 
meat, cake, and a variety of all the finest fruits in 
season." — Jane Austen ("Pride and Prejudice"). 

AVERY good plain raisin cake is 
made by creaming together half 
a cup of butter and a cup and a 
quarter of sugar, then adding the beaten 
yolks of four eggs, a cup of water and 
about a quarter of a grated nutmeg. 
Take three cups of sifted flour in which 
has been stirred a full teaspoonful 
of baking-powder, sift again. Put part 
of the flour in a cupful of seeded raisins, 
stir into the egg and sugar mixture, add 
the beaten whites, stir lightly and fold 
in the remainder of the flour. Bake in 
a slow oven. If the eggs are large add 
a little more flour. 



159 



SEPTEMBER ioth 

"When I brought out the baked apples from the 
closet, and hoped our friends would be so very oblig- 
ing as to take some, ' Oh ! ' said he, directly, ' there is 
nothing in the way of fruit half so good. ' " — Jane 
Austen ("Emma"). 

PARE and core apples tart but not 
sour ; put in a pan with a very little 
water, fill the core holes with 
chopped English walnuts and a little 
sugar, and bake in a rather quick oven, 
basting often. When the apples are done, 
which will be when they can be pierced 
with a straw, set them away where they 
will get cold. Serve with whipped cream, 
sweetened and flavored with sherry. 



SEPTEMBER iith 

"Then came a kind of gruel and when the repast 
had lasted an hour or more some hashed meat highly 
peppered." — Charles Reade ("The Cloister and 
the Hearth"). 

COLD beef of any kind, roast, 
steak, or pot roast, is excellent 
made into cecils and served with 
a brown or tomato sauce. Chop the beef 
fine, and to two cupfuls add a teaspoon- 
ful of onion juice, two tablespoonfuls of 
i6o 



fine dry bread-crumbs, and the yolks of 
two eggs, and mix thoroughly. Add 
one-fourth of a small nutmeg, grated 
fine, a little salt, and a generous season- 
ing of paprika. Heat the mixture and 
set aside to cool. When nearly cold, 
make into balls the size of an English 
walnut, roll in egg and then in bread- 
crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Serve with 
a brown sauce or one well-flavored with 
tomato. 



SEPTEMBER I2th 

"I'd a baking yesterday, Master Marner, and 
the lard cakes turned out better nor common." — 
George Eliot ("Silas Marner"). 

THE " lard-cake " of old England 
is the cruller of New England. 
This old-fashioned recipe may be 
trusted to produce a result " better nor 
common." Five cupfuls of flour, one of 
butter, two of sugar, four eggs, half a 
grated nutmeg. Rub the butter and 
sugar together, add the eggs, whites and 
yolks beaten separately, then the flour. 
Roll into a thin sheet, cut in narrow 
strips with a jagging iron, twist into any 
shape that commends itself, and fry in 
a deep pot of vet-y hot lard. 
i6i 



SEPTEMBER 13TH 

"Some choice sous'd fish brought couchant in a 
dish." — Cartwright. 

SOUSED mackerel can easily be pre- 
pared at home and is a great im- 
provement on the canned variety. 
Clean and skin half a dozen small mack- 
erel. Cut into convenient pieces and 
remove all the larger bones. Pack the 
fish in a stoneware, not earthenware, jar. 
Sprinkle with a quarter of a cupful of 
salt, a saltspoonful of paprika, half a 
cupful of whole mixed spices, cloves, 
peppercorns, and allspice in about equal 
quantities. Cover with vinegar. The 
salt and spices should be strewed on the 
fish as it is put in the jar. Cover and 
bake in a slow oven six hours. Take off 
the cover while it cools, then cover again. 
Keep in a cool place. 



SEPTEMBER 14TH 

"If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all 
the stars and all the heavens." — Robert Browning 
("Paracelsus"). 

"T^ULLED bread" is a gastro- 
l-^nomic blessing to the dyspeptic 
1 American. Take a loaf of fresh 

bread while it is still warm, break it in 
162 



two and pull the soft part away from the 
crust in long strips of as even shape and 
size as possible. Place these on a bis- 
cuit-pan in the oven and bake to a light 
brown. Eaten before they are more than 
two days old they are deliciously nutty 
and crisp, and much more digestible than 
any other form of bread. 



SEPTEMBER 15TH 

"In due time the tea was spread forth in handsome 
style; and neither ham, tarts, nor marmalade were 
wanting among its accompaniments." — Charlotte 
Bronte ("Shirley"). 

PUT on to cook peeled and stoned 
peaches and allow them to simmer 
for three-quarters of an hour, stir- 
ring often. Then add sugar in the pro- 
portion of three-quarters of a pound to a 
pound of the fruit ; allow it to boil a few 
minutes, skimming constantly. Then 
add the juice of a lemon to every two 
pounds of fruit and the chopped kernels 
of four peach-stones. Cook ten or fif- 
teen minutes and fill glasses or marma- 
lade jars. 



163 



SEPTEMBER i6th 

"He bid me taste of it; and 'twas the grape!" 
— Omar Khayyam ("Rubaiyat"). 

TO make grape- juice for the pleas- 
ant drink in vogue, wash, without 
stemming, Concord grapes. Put 
them over in a kettle with a cupful of 
cold water. When they have cooked 
till they are thoroughly soft, remove 
from the fire, and when cool enough 
strain and return to the fire with a cup- 
ful of sugar to each quart of juice. Let 
it boil while the scum rises and is re- 
moved. Have fruit cans standing in hot 
water, fill them till they overflow, cover 
tightly, and set in a cool place. The 
amount of sugar may be varied. 



SEPTEMBER 17TH 

"Have some more sauce to your leek? there is 
not enough leek to swear by." — Shakespeare 
("Henry V."). 

A SAUCE in which the leek, or its 
sister, the onion, is very delicately 
present, is prepared by heating in 
a frying pan good dripping or butter, 
then frying in it several slices of onion. 
When they are well cooked remove them. 
164 



Put into the pan cold potatoes, cut in 
dice ; cold young turnips or carrots ; fry 
light brown, lift carefully from the fat. 
Serve very hot and dry in a hot dish. 



SEPTEMBER i8th 

"There were eggs in napkins, and crispy bits of 
bacon under silver covers; and there were little 
fishes in a little box and devilled kidneys frizzling 
on a hot-water dish." — Anthony Trollope ("The 
Warden"). 

CHOOSE plump veal or lamb kid- 
neys ; take out the hard centres and 
the fat ; cut in slices half an inch 
thick. Heat together a tablespoonful of 
butter, a small teaspoonful of mustard, 
a good pinch of paprika, a little salt, 
and a good teaspoonful of lemon juice. 
In this dip each piece of kidney, roll in 
fine bread crumbs and broil ; turn often. 
They should be done in eight or ten min- 
utes. Serve on toast with the sauce 
poured over them. 



165 



SEPTEMBER iqth 

"Tarrant ventured to intimate that the apple 
fritters were very fine." — Henry James ("The 
Bostonians"). 

ALTHOUGH Mr. James has lived 
so long in England, he obviously 
has not forgotten all the pleasures 
of life in America. The apple fritter of 
New England is too well known to 
justify description, but the fritter from 
old England is a different matter, and 
to the taste of many quite as palatable. 
Cut French bread into thick squares. 
Soak these in cream flavored with nut- 
meg, powdered cinnamon and sugar and 
mixed with an egg. When the squares 
are well soaked fry them golden brown 
in very hot fat, spread them with butter 
and hot apple sauce. 



SEPTEMBER 2oth 

"He would keep recommending her to tr>' the 
coarsest viands on the table; and at last, he told her 
if she could not fancy the cold beef to try a little 
with pickled onions." — Mrs. Gaskell. 

FOR pickling, choose small white 
onions, peel them, put into a pan 
of boiling water, a few at a time ; 
when they look clear on the outside lift 
i66 



them carefully on to a cloth, cover with 
another ; scald some more, and proceed 
as before. Let them lie till cold, then 
put them in jars and pour over them 
scalding white wine vinegar. When cold 
cover the jars. 



SEPTEMBER 2ISt 

"A dish of wild fowl, that came afterward, fur- 
nished conversation for the rest of the dinner." — 
Addison ("Sir Roger de Coverley"). 

WILD fowl should be roasted 
without stuffing. The fishy 
taste that they sometimes have 
is removed by basting them with hot 
water, salted, in which an onion has been 
cooked. Toward the end baste them 
with butter only. A good sauce to serve 
with them is made by boiling a cupful 
of port wine, the same quantity of stock, 
a shallot and a bit of mace for ten min- 
utes ; add a tablespoonful of butter and 
a teaspoonful of flour, rubbed together ; 
salt and pepper. Boil up once and serve. 



167 



SEPTEMBER 22d 

"Where, on its bed 

Of the orchard's black 
Mould, the love-apple 
Lies pulpy and red." 
— Browning ("The Enghshman in Italy"). 

SELECT large, smooth tomatoes (or 
" love-apples," as they used to be 
called). Cut out the core and fill 
the hollow space with a stuffing of 
minced chicken, bread crumbs, and 
chopped ripe olives. Spread a little but- 
ter over the top and cook half an hour 
in a moderately quick oven. There is no 
necessity of moistening the stuffing, as 
the juice of the tomato soon penetrates it. 



SEPTEMBER 23D 

"There are frogs cooking in it, no doubt." — 
Thackeray. 

THE hind legs of frogs are de- 
licious, and should be fried in 
deep fat or fine olive oil till they 
are a light brown. Skin, wash, and soak 
in milk for twenty minutes ; lift them out 
of the milk, pepper and salt them and 
coat with flour, then fry. 
168 



SEPTEMBER 24TH 

" Here, sweetheart, here's some green ginger for 
thee." — Beaumont and Fletcher. 

TRADITION has it that green 
ginger prepared in the following 
manner was a favorite preserve of 
Martha Washington : Scrape plump, 
smooth ginger root and throw into cold 
water. Allow eight pounds of sugar to 
seven of ginger. Bring it to the boil 
and let it boil steadily half an hour. 
Drain, put into fresh cold water and 
again bring it to the boil, allowing it 
to cook until tender. Make a preserving 
syrup in the proportion of eight pounds 
of sugar to two quarts of water. When 
this is cold, pour over the ginger ; after 
two days pour off the syrup and boil it 
down, pouring it over the ginger again 
when cold. Repeat the process, this time 
pouring it hot over the ginger, which 
will now be permeated by it and will not 
shrink. 



169 



SEPTEMBER 25TH 

"Enticing walnuts, I have known you well 
In youth, when pickles were a passing pain." 

— Taylor. 

CHOOSE walnuts young and ten- 
der enough to be easily pierced 
with a needle. Pack them in jars, 
covering with good cider vinegar, poured 
on cold. Let them stand four months ; 
pour off the vinegar and replace it with 
boiling vinegar, in which has been added 
to each quart an ounce of English mus- 
tard, a teaspoonful of horse-radish, a 
pinch of black pepper, cloves, and all- 
spice, a teaspoonful of ginger and a 
tablespoonful of salt. Cover the jars 
closely, and do not use for three months 
more. They may be made without the 
spices, except pepper and salt. The vin- 
egar first poured off is excellent for cat- 
sup or salads, having a good flavor. 



SEPTEMBER 26th 

The plenteous pickle shall preserve the dish." — 
Gay. 

CHOOSE small cucumbers, and to 
half a peck of them add one pint 
of nasturtium pods, one quart each 
of string beans, small green tomatoes, 

170 



and small white onions. Salt over night. 
In the morning- add two ounces each of 
white and black mustard seed ; two cauli- 
flowers, boiled and cut up, half a pint 
of salt, half a pound of ground mustard, 
one gill of olive oil and four carrots, 
boiled tender and sliced. Cover the 
whole with scalding vinegar. 



SEPTEMBER 27TH 

"He doth learn to make strange sauces, to eat 
anchovies, macaroni, bovoli, fagioli, and caviare." 
— Ben Jonson ("Cynthia's Revels"). 

BOIL a quarter of a pound of mac- 
aroni until tender ; season it with 
salt and paprika and pour over it 
a tomato sauce made as follows : 

Fry in a tablespoonful of butter a few 
leaves of parsley, a dozen fresh mush- 
rooms, peeled and cut in small pieces, 
and an onion, sliced, or a clove of garlic 
(the latter gives the true Italian flavor). 
Add half a pint of hot water, in which 
three bouillon capsules have been dis- 
solved, making a very strong stock, and 
a pint of canned tomatoes. Cook very 
gently for three hours. Strain, then stir 
in a lump of butter. 

171 



SEPTEMBER 28th 

"She went to the garden for parsley to stuff a 
rabbit." — Shakespeare ("Taming of the Shrew"). 

TO make a rabbit taste like a hare, 
skin it and season it with black 
pepper and allspice. Pour over 
it a glass of port wine and the same 
amount of vinegar. Baste it with this 
occasionally, and after it has lain over 
night, stuff it with breadcrumbs, sea- 
soned with salt, pepper, and chopped 
parsley, and roast in a moderate oven. 
Serve with a sauce of melted butter to 
which currant jelly has been added. 



SEPTEMBER 29TH 

"And my Barbary hen has laid two eggs; Heaven 
knows the trouble we had to bring her to it." — 
Charles Reade ("Peg Wofl&ngton"). 

IF there is a little cold ham, boiled, 
fried or broiled, to be disposed of, 
chop it very fine and mix with the 
yolks of hard boiled eggs which have 
been removed from the whites and 
rubbed smooth. Put the mixture back 
in the whites, place them in a baking dish 
close together, pour over them a thick 
cream sauce, sprinkle dry bread crumbs 
on top, season with bits of butter, salt, 
172 



and paprika, and bake long enough to 
brown nicely. Instead of chopped ham, 
the small cans of devilled ham may be 
used. 

SEPTEMBER 30TH 

"Though they could not all talk, they could all 
eat; and the beautiful pyramids of grapes, nectar- 
ines and peaches soon collected them around the 
table." — Jane Austen ("Pride and Prejudice"). 

FRUIT used as a centrepiece is very 
handsome when dipped first into 
white of egg, lightly beaten, then 
in granulated sugar. Dry on a sieve and 
serve very cold on a bed of grape-leaves. 
Grapes, plums, and berries are the most 
adapted to this form of serving. Ap- 
ples and peaches are best left with their 
blushing cheeks unadorned. 



OCTOBER 1ST 

"For the stock of clear soup you will get a leg of 
beef, a leg of veal and a ham." — Thackeray ("A 
Little Dinner at Timmins's"). 

FOR good strong stock take three 
pounds of lean veal, three pounds 
of lean beef, one slice of ham or 
a ham-bone, two onions, two stalks of 
celery. Mince the ham or crack the 
173 



ham-bone, put the meats and the sea- 
soning over the fire in six quarts of cold 
water. Let this come slowly to the boil- 
ing point and then simmer for six or 
seven hours. Strain through a double 
cloth and set in a cold place. When the 
fat has hardened on top of the stock re- 
move it carefully. Put the stock back 
on the fire with the unbeaten white and 
the shell of an egg. Let it heat quickly 
and boil fast for five minutes. Strain 
again. Add salt and pepper to taste just 
before serving. Many people like the 
addition of one glass of sherry. 



OCTOBER 2D 

"There were barrels of oysters, hecatombs of lob- 
sters, a few tremendous-looking crabs and a tub full 
of pickled salmon." — Anthony Trollope ("The 
Warden"). 

SOFT-SHELL crabs are good only 
when freshly caught, as the shells 
harden after twenty-four hours. 
Remove the sand-bags and the shaggy 
bits from the side ; then wash and wipe ; 
sprinkle with salt and pepper; roll in 
bread-crumbs, then in egg, then in 
crumbs; fry in smoking hot lard or, 
much better, in good olive oil. 

174 



OCTOBER 3D 

"Enter a boiled turkey poult, with delicate white 
sauce." — Charles Reade ("It Is Never Too Late 
To Mend"). 

AVERY delicate white sauce to 
serve with young turkey is egg- 
cream sauce, and is made by 
putting into a sauce-pan a large table- 
spoonful of butter and a heaping table- 
spoonful of flour, adding the flour a lit- 
tle at a time as the butter melts. As soon 
as butter and flour bubble, pour in two 
cups of cream and season with salt and 
green sweet peppers, chopped fine. Boil 
for a couple of minutes. Keep hot over 
boiling water ; when ready to serve, put 
in three hard-boiled eggs, cut in small 
pieces. 

OCTOBER 4TH 

"Fanny must run down to Briarfield and buy 
some muffins and crumpets." — Charlotte Bronte 
("Shirley"). 

CRUMPETS are not fashionable 
with the ordinary American baker, 
but they repay the trouble of mak- 
ing them at home. Put in a large bowl 
five cupfuls of sifted flour, a tablespoon- 
ful of sugar and a teaspoonful of salt. 
175 



Dissolve a quarter of a yeast-cake in a 
little luke-warm water, then add it to 
two cupfuls of warm water, pour on the 
flour and beat into a smooth batter. 
Cover and let stand over night. In the 
morning beat into the sponge three 
tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Let the 
mixture rise half an hour longer in a 
warm place, and bake in muffin-rings on 
a griddle. 



OCTOBER 5TH 

"The vulgar boil, the learned roast, an egg." — 
Pope. 

ONE can easily be learned enough 
to roast, or at least bake, an egg, 
and for this purpose come very 
convenient egg-bakers, of different sizes 
to suit the number of eggs. Butter the 
dish, allowing a tablespoonful of butter 
for four eggs ; break the eggs carefully 
into the dish ; set in rather cool oven 
until the white becomes set, but not hard. 
Season with salt, pepper, a little chopped 
parsley, and a few drops of onion juice, 
or, if there is a bit of cold ham in the 
house, a teaspoonful of that, chopped 
fine, on the top of each egg will vary the 
flavor. 

176 



OCTOBER 6th 

"Let onion atoms lurk within the bowl 
And, half suspected, animate the whole." 
— Sidney Smith. 

TO any of the green salads, where 
the ordinary French dressing is 
used, an agreeable variety is im- 
parted by rubbing the salad-bowl with a 
piece of raw onion, or, if part of the 
company only like this addition, it is 
easy to regulate the matter by rubbing 
with onion the plates on which the salad 
is to be served. 



OCTOBER 7TH 

"Darling, hasten and prepare this turtle, it will 
be an addition to our meagre ordinary." — Robert 
Louis Stevenson ("The Treasure of Franchard"). 

THE meat of a calf's head makes 
very good imitation turtle in place 
of the terrapin that is very ex- 
pensive in our Northern markets. Boil 
the head until the meat drops from the 
bones ; when cold cut the meat into small 
dice and put into a saucepan with an 
onion and some ham, also cut in dice ; 
season with thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, 
and a wine-glass of Madeira or of good 
brandy; add a cup of Espagnole sauce 
^:7 



or consomme, set on a good fire, and boil 
half an hour. Ten minutes before tak- 
ing from the fire add two hard-boiled 
eggs, chopped fine, and the yellow rind 
of a lemon, also chopped. 

OCTOBER 8th 

"Venison, game, pickles and provocatives in the 
centre of the table." — Charles Reade ("Peg Wof- 
fington"). 

NO daintier "provocative" for an 
autumn dinner can be found than 
nasturtium sandwiches. Chop 
the seed-pods of the nasturtium vine, 
after having poured boiling vinegar on 
them and allowing them to cool in it. 
Mix with mayonnaise dressing and 
spread between thin slices of white bread. 
Garnish with nasturtium flowers, which 
also are good to eat, but too lovely for 
the sacrifice. 

OCTOBER 9TH 

" I can pay for my bread and cheese, and my nice 
little lodging, and my two coats a year." — Wilkie 
Collins ("The Moonstone"). 

ONE can lunch well on bread and 
cheese if the latter is combined 
with celery according to this rule : 
Boil in salted water until tender a head 
178 



of celery cut into small pieces ; drain and 
mix with a cupful of drawn butter, two 
ounces of grated cheese, and salt and 
pepper to taste. Bake in a shallow dish. 
Scatter grated cheese over the top, with 
a few bits of butter. 

OCTOBER lOTH 

"His sauce should be considered. Decidedly a 
few bread-crumbs, done up with his liver and brains 
and a dash of mild sage." — Charles Lamb ("Es- 
says of Elia"). _ 

FROM our sauce for roast pig we 
will omit the brains, but will chop 
up the liver and add bread-crumbs 
together with a tablespoonful of pow- 
dered sage. Stir this into a generous 
quantity of melted butter, and serve in 
a gravy boat, with Charles Lamb's fa- 
mous delicacy. 

OCTOBER iiTH 

"There, take ... ye each a shell; 
'Twas a fat oyster, — live — in peace — adieu." 

— Pope. 

AVERY nice oyster stuffing for a 
shoulder of mutton is described 
in an eighteenth century cook- 
book and turns out agreeable to the 
179 



twentieth century taste, which is not the 
case with all antiquated dishes. A cup- 
ful of grated bread-crumbs, a piece of 
butter (suet in the old recipe), yolks of 
two hard-boiled eggs, a bit of onion, salt, 
pepper, thyme, and winter savory for 
seasoning, twelve oysters. Mix all the 
ingredients and bind together with the 
yolk of a raw egg. 



OCTOBER I2TH 

"The two doctors were for keeping him on gruel, 
lemonade, barley-water and so on." — Wilkie Col- 
LDfS ("The Moonstone"). 

FOR a barley-water that is agree- 
able as well as wholesome, boil 
two pounds of lean veal in one 
quart of water ; add to it a quarter of a 
pound of pearl barley and boil until it 
can be rubbed through a sieve ; add salt. 



OCTOBER 13TH 

"And luscious scallops to allure the taste 
Of rigid zealots to delicious fasts." — Gay. 

SCALLOPS, like oysters, are hand- 
somest when large and most delect- 
able when small. To eat them at 
their best, dip them in a batter made of 
180 



a pint of flour, two eggs beaten light, 
and half a pint of milk, with a teaspoon- 
ful of salt for seasoning. Drop spoon- 
fuls of the scallops and batter into 
boiling fat. The batter makes a shell 
about them in which they are practically 
steamed, and this shell may easily be dis- 
carded by those averse to fried food. 
The scallop itself thus cooked is not 
difficult of digestion. 



OCTOBER 14TH 

"Moore had risen before the sun and had taken 
a ride to Whinbury and back ere his sister had made 
the ca.i6 au lait or cut the tartines for his breakfast." 
— Charlotte Bronte ("Shirley"). 



THE tartines of America to-day, 
if not of Charlotte Bronte's Eng- 
land, are prepared in many ways, 
one of the best and simplest being 
to spread thin slices of Boston brown 
bread first with butter and then with 
cream, or pot cheese. Sprinkle thickly 
with sweet green peppers chopped fine 
and moistened with a few drops of 
lemon juice. Cut the slices in halves 
and press the two halves together. 



181 



OCTOBER 15TH 

"A man may feel thankful, heartily thankful, over 
a dish of plain mutton with turnips . . . when 
he shall confess a perturbation of mind inconsistent 
with the purposes of the grace, at the presence of 
venison or turtle." — Charles Lamb. 

AS an accompaniment for mutton 
a puree of turnips is sometimes 
welcome. Cook until tender 
pared and sliced turnips in salted boiling- 
water. Press through a colander ; add 
a tablespoonful of butter rubbed in one 
of flour ; pepper and salt, and a half cup- 
ful of cream heated with a tiny bit of 
soda. When it has all boiled up once, 
take from the fire and stir in a beaten 
egg. Do not let it boil again, but set the 
saucepan in boiling water for a few min- 
utes, stirring occasionally. 



OCTOBER i6th 

"Have a munch of grouse and a hunk of bread." 
— Robert Browning ("Donald"). 

CUT the meat from the breast of a 
plump grouse ; break up the car- 
cass into small pieces, put into a 
saucepan with two tablespoonfuls of 
chopped bacon, a chopped onion, four 
whole cloves, a little mace and a small 
182 



bay leaf, a little parsley and a stalk of 
celery, a peppercorn and one minced car- 
rot. Add three cups of stock and simmer 
for two hours. Strain and skim off the 
fat. Cook the pieces of breast in butter, 
or olive-oil, to a light brown on each 
side; add the sauce, a little salt, and a 
gill of claret, and simmer for five min- 
utes. 



OCTOBER 17TH 

"A most sharp sauce — and is it not well served 
into a sweet goose?" — Shakespeare ("Romeo and 
Juliet"). 

A SAUCE sharp enough for a 
sweet goose or any other amiable 
fowl is made with one cupful of 
brown stock, two tablespoonfuls of but- 
ter, one tablespoonful of flour, two table- 
spoonfuls of chopped capers, two table- 
spoonfuls of vinegar, one tablespoonful of 
chopped chives, one teaspoonful of sugar, 
one-half teaspoonful of salt, a little cay- 
enne pepper. Brown the butter, rub the 
flour into it, then add the stock and the 
other ingredients; cook for ten minutes, 
stirring constantly. 



183 



OCTOBER i8th 

"I eat a palatable fig." — Robert Browning 
("Ferishtah's Fancies"). 

SOAK dried pulled figs in cold water 
for some hours, then stew them until 
they swell. Lift them carefully on to 
the dish in which they are to be served ; 
let them cool and arrange around them 
whipped cream, flavored with sherry, 
maraschino, or essence of almond and 
slightly sweetened with powdered sugar. 

OCTOBER 19TH 

"Pudding our parson eats, the squire loves hare, 
But white-pot thick is my Buxoma's fare." 

—Gay. 

WHITE bean soup, or " white- 
pot," as it used to be called, is 
both nourishing and delicious 
made as follows : Soak one cupful of 
white beans over night in plenty of water. 
In the morning put them in a soup pot 
with three quarts of cold water. Cook 
for five hours. Strain through a sieve, 
rubbing the beans through as thoroughly 
as possible ; add salt, white pepper, a 
large tablespoonful of butter, and a cup 
of cream ; also a teaspoonful of celery 
salt. Cook twenty minutes. Serve with 
croutons of bread. 



OCTOBER 20TH 

"Tidbury drank water with his meals, if meals 
those miserable scraps of bread and cheese, or bread 
and sausage, could be called, which he lined his 
lean stomach with." — Thackeray. 

CHOP a pound and a half of pork 
and the same of veal, cleared of 
skin and sinews, and three-quarters 
of a pound of beef suet ; mince and mix 
them ; steep the crumb of a penny loaf 
in water and mix it with the meat. Sea- 
son with dried sage, salt, and pepper. 
This is an old English recipe. 



OCTOBER 2IST 

"I can teach sugar to slip down your throat in 
a million ways." — Dekker and Ford. 

ADD to the white of an egg an 
equal quantity of very strong 
black coffee, then stir in as much 
confectioner's sugar as you can and keep 
the mixture soft enough to mould. When 
it is a smooth paste, roll small pieces be- 
tween the palms, making little balls ; 
press between halves of English wal- 
nuts, removed from the shells without 
breaking. 

185 



OCTOBER 22D 

"I will make an end of my dinner. 
There's pippins and cheese to come." 
— Shakespeare ("Merry Wives of Windsor"). 

A FINE hot dessert for a cool day- 
is made by enclosing each tart 
pippin in a crust of puff paste, 
baking in a slow oven, and sprinkling 
with sugar ten or fifteen minutes before 
taking them out. Serve a sauce of thick 
cream, sugar, and nutmeg to pour over 
them, and have a cream cheese to eat 
with them. 



OCTOBER 23D 

"Hovering mute and inaccessible on the outskirts 
of aesthetic tea." — Carlyle ("Sartor Resartus"). 

TO have tea that is truly "aes- 
thetic" in taste and appearance, 
make it precisely as drip-coffee 
is made. The tea should be placed 
in a fine strainer, such as comes with 
the French coffee-pots, the strainers 
occasionally sold with teapots having too 
coarse holes for the purpose. Pour 
boiling water through the tea, then pour 
it back over the leaves a second time. 
Tea should always be served in a china 
teapot finished on the inside with a hard 
186 



glaze, the porous earthenwares invari- 
ably becoming after a short time im- 
pregnated with the tannic-acid flavor. 



OCTOBER 24TH 

"Yon shapeless nothing in a dish." — CowPER 
("Poems"). 

PLACE in a shallow dish sponge or 
other plain cake, and rather close 
together stick blanched almonds in 
regular rows. Pour over it half a pint 
of warm custard, a spoonful at a time, 
and set away to cool. Eat cold, with 
whipped cream, sweetened slightly and 
flavored, or with cold custard. This old- 
fashioned dessert is known as Hedgehog 
Trifle, and if the almonds are left stand- 
ing pretty well out of the cake, its ap- 
pearance justifies its name. 



OCTOBER 25TH 

"'Something ails my gracious master,' cried the 
keeper of the seal. 'Sure, my lord, it is the lam- 
preys served at dinner, or the veal.' " — Thackeray 
("Rebecca and Rowena"). 

THE ancient Worcester way of 
cooking lampreys was to remove 
the cartilage which runs down 
the back, after cleaning carefully, and 
187 



season with a little salt, cloves, mace, 
nutmeg, pepper, and allspice ; put in a 
small saucepan with very strong beef 
gravy, port wine, and an equal quantity 
of sherry or Madeira. 



OCTOBER 26th 

"A hundred souls of turkeys in a pie." — Pope. 

IF turkey is to be served in a pie, pull 
the meat from the breast instead of 
cutting it, and put it into a baking- 
dish with a sauce made of white stock, 
slightly thickened, a cup of cream, and 
a piece of butter the size of an egg. 
Cook slowly for two hours, keeping the 
dish covered. Then add twenty-five 
oysters, cover with a pastry crust, and 
cook until brown. The meat of the up- 
per joints may be included if desired. 

OCTOBER 27TH 

"Good worts! good cabbage." — Shakespeare 
("Merry Wives of Windsor"). 

CUT the cabbage in large pieces 
and cook until tender ; change the 
water once. Pour off the water, 
and when perfectly cold chop fine, season 

188 



with paprika and salt, and put into a 
saucepan with a cup of hot milk or hot 
stock. Cook till most of the liquid is 
cooked away ; stir in a tablespoonful of 
melted butter and the juice of a lemon, 
and serve. 

OCTOBER 28th 

"Pippin of my own grafting, with a dish of cara- 
ways." — Shakespeare ("Henry IV."). 

CORE and pare some pippins ; put 
in a shallow dish, the bottom of 
which is covered with water. Fill 
the cavities with sugar, mixed with 
grated lemon peel and a few caraway 
seed. Bake in a quick oven, basting 
often with the syrup. 



OCTOBER 29TH 

"Caroline . . . hastened to hand to her 
uncle's vast, revered, and, on the whole, worthy 
friend, a glass of wine and a plate of macaroons." 
— Charlotte Bronte ("Shirley"). 

TO make macaroons, blanch, dry. 
and pound to a paste half a pound 
of almonds, with one teaspoonful 
of rose-water. Beat together the whites 
of three eggs and half a cupful of pow- 
dered sugar, adding the sugar slowly. 
189 



Put in half a teaspoonful of almond es- 
sence, then the pounded almonds, and 
add a tablespoonful of flour, if it is too 
soft to be shaped without. Roll with 
wet hands to the size of a walnut, flatten, 
place on buttered paper, and bake slowly. 



OCTOBER 30TH 

"Mild and dulcet as the flesh of young pigs." — 
Charles Lamb ("Essays of Elia"). 

UNLIKE other broiled meats, pork 
tenderloin should be cooked sev- 
eral minutes before it is eaten. 
Broil over a good fire for about twenty 
to twenty-five minutes, turn every two 
minutes. Lay upon a hot dish, sprinkle 
with salt and pepper and with lemon 
juice, and dot here and there with bits 
of butter. Cover closely and allow to 
stand for ten minutes before serving. 
Hot unsweetened apple-sauce should be 
passed with this dish, indigestible but 
good. 



190 



OCTOBER 31ST 

"A collection of cooling refreshments, — wine, 
fruit, cakes." — Charlotte Bronte ("Shirley"). 

TO make nut wafers, cream a quar- 
ter of a cup of butter, beat in one 
egg and one cup of sugar, and 
keep beating till smooth. Add a scant 
teaspoonful of vanilla, or half a tea- 
spoonful of almond extract, and a cup- 
ful of chopped nuts. Then stir in one 
cup of well-sifted flour in which has been 
mixed a small teaspoonful of baking 
powder. Drop in small spoonfuls on 
a buttered pan and bake in hot oven. 



NOVEMBER ist 

" A smoking soup, here came in, borne by the 
smiling host. 'Behold a potage of my fashion!' 
says my landlord, laying down the dish." — Thack- 
eray ("The Virginians"). 

FOR pepper-pot soup, to three 
quarts of water put vegetables ac- 
cording to the season — in summer, 
peas, lettuce, and spinach ; in winter, 
carrots, turnips, celery, and onions at 
any time of year. Cut them small and 
stew with two pounds of the neck of 
mutton or with a fowl till quite tender. 
On first boiling, skim. Half an hour 
191 



before serving add the meat of a lobster. 
Season with salt and cayenne pepper, 
A small quantity of rice should be put in 
with the meat. This is an old-fashioned 
English recipe, and is very good, very 
rich, and very warming on a bitter night 
in winter when cold blows the blast. 



NOVEMBER 2d 

"Nobody ever dreamed such soup as was put 
upon the table directly afterwards; or such fish; 
or such side-dishes; or such a top and bottom; 
or such a course of birds and sweets." — Charles 
Dickens ("Martin Chuzzlewit"). 

THERE are many people to whom 
the delights of codfish tongues 
are unknown, but they are a great 
delicacy. Wash a dozen or more ; put 
them over the fire in cold water, a table- 
spoonful of salt, a sliced onion, and half 
a lemon, sliced. Let them come to a boil 
quickly ; when they have boiled one min- 
ute, set them away to cool in an earthen- 
ware dish in the water they were boiled 
in. When cool dip them in milk, roll 
them in sifted bread-crumbs, then fry 
them in hot butter till they are a delicate 
brown, turning them as they brown. 
Serve them with tomato or other piquant 
sauce. 

192 



NOVEMBER 30 

"Soon he and Gerard and Margaret were sup- 
ping royally on broiled venison." — Charles Reade 
("The Cloister and the Hearth"). 

A VENISON Steak is cut from the 
leg or from the shoulder-blade, 
the latter having a superior fla- 
vor. Broil rare, and serve with a sauce 
made by melting a tablespoonful of cur- 
rant jelly in a glassful of hot Madeira, 
to which a teaspoonful of lemon juice 
has been added. Pepper and salt the 
steak lightly before pouring the sauce 
over it. 

NOVEMBER 4TH 

"Fetch up the venison and the sweet sauce, — 
you may leave the vi^ater gruel till I ring for it." 
— Charles Reade ("It Is Never Too Late To 
Mend "). 

CURRANT-JELLY sauce is an old 
favorite to serve with venison or 
mutton. To one tablespoonful of 
butter add one of flour, browned in the 
oven; cook together till they bubble and 
be^in to darken, when a cupful of con- 
somme or brown soup-stock should be 
poured in slowly. To darken still more 
add a few drops of caramel. Just before 
taking from the fire stir in half a cup of 
currant jelly. 

193 



NOVEMBER 5th 

"Hares, pheasants, partridges, snipes, barn-door 
chickens (those 'tame villatic fowl'), capons, plovers, 
brawn, barrels of oysters, I dispense as freely as I 
receive them." — Charles Lamb ("Essays of Elia"), 

CUT ofif the breast from half a dozen 
snipe. Put in a frying pan a ta- 
blespoonful of butter, rub into it 
a teaspoonful of flour till brown and 
smooth. Add two cloves, a peppercorn, 
a sprig of parsley, a gill of water, a gill 
of claret, and a tablespoonful of chopped 
mushrooms. Cover the pan and simmer 
for two minutes after adding the breasts 
of the snipe. Spread thin slices of toast 
with currant jelly, and on these serve the 
snipe, pouring the gravy over them. 



NOVEMBER 6th 

"Those unctuous morsels of deer's flesh were not 
made to be received with dispassionate services. I 
hate a man who swallows it, affecting not to know 
what he is eating." — Charles Lamb. 

A VENISON ragout may be made 
as unctuous as one pleases from 
pieces unsuitable to use as steaks. 
Cut the meat into large squares, put it 
into a frying pan with hot butter, and 
toss it about for not more than five min- 

194 



utes. Add a tablespoonful of flour, then 
a pint of brown stock, half a cupful of 
mushrooms, a tablespoonful of currant 
jelly, and a little salt. Pepper and onion 
juice, which are usually advised, are 
best omitted. Mushrooms combine par- 
ticularly well with the venison flavor. 



NOVEMBER 7th 

"But Messenger was carving a loin of veal. Jem 
Messenger sat opposite him, eating bacon and beans 
on a very large scale." — Charles Reade (" Clouds 
and Sunshine"). 

AS an agreeable variation from 
pork and beans, boil and rub 
through a colander a quart of 
white beans. Heat in a saucepan a large 
teaspoonful of butter, with paprika, salt, 
a teaspoonful of sugar, a tablespoonful of 
chopped parsley, and a leaf or two of 
mint, chopped fine. Stir in the beans and 
toss and stir constantly till very hot. 
Place on a hot platter with bits of bacon 
around the edge. 



195 



NOVEMBER 8th 

"Soupe a la bonne jemme with a perdrix aux 
choux to follow, and pancakes and fromage de Brie, 
and to drink a bottle of Romane Conti." — George 
DU Maurier ("Peter Ibbetson"). 

TO make the French pancakes re- 
ferred to above, beat whites and 
yolks of three eggs separately, 
and to the yolks add a cup of milk, half 
a teaspoonful of salt and a teaspoon- 
ful of sugar. Pour one-third of this 
mixture on half a cupful of flour and 
beat till smooth ; add the remainder of 
the milk, beat well, and put in a des- 
sertspoonful of salad oil and the whites 
of the eggs. Heat and butter a small 
frying pan, cover with a thin layer of the 
batter ; brown and turn. When a light 
brown on each side, spread quickly with 
butter and a tart jelly, roll and sprinkle 
with powdered sugar in which has been 
stirred a little ground cinnamon. 



NOVEMBER qth 

"Don't get any dainties for me, my dear; bread 
and cheese is the chief of my diet." — Mrs. Gaskell 
("Wives and Daughters"). 

BREAD and cheese combined make 
an excellent luncheon or supper 
dish known as baked Welsh rabbit. 
Have ready a cupful and a half of bread 
196 



crumbs free from crusts and a cupful of 
grated rich cheese, about a cupful of milk 
and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Put 
in a baking-dish a layer of bread-crumbs, 
strew with bits of butter, a little salt, 
a dust of paprika, then a layer of cheese. 
Repeat till the dish is full ; then pour on 
enough milk to moisten well, but not 
soak, the bread-crumbs. Sprinkle dry 
crumbs on top with plenty of bits of but- 
ter. Bake in a quick oven. 

NOVEMBER ioth 

"Look at me! I make my own bread, and there's 
no difference between one batch and another from 
year's end to year's end; but if I'd got any other 
woman besides Vixen in the house, I must pray to 
the Lord every baking to give me patience if the 
bread turned out heavy." — George Eliot ("Adam 
Bede"). 

A CAREFUL rule for home-made 
bread is this : Late in the evening 
place in bread-pan three quarts of 
sifted flour and a teaspoonful of salt. 
Soak half a cake of compressed yeast 
in a cupful of lukewarm water ; add 
two quarts of water of the same tem- 
perature and mix well into the flour. 
Cover the pan with a clean cloth, and 
the bread board, and set it to rise where 
the temperature is 70 or 75 degrees. In 
197 



the morning add flour enough to make 
a fairly stiff dough. Knead half an hour, 
then set it by the fire for five hours. Sep- 
arate into loaves. Knead them ten min- 
utes and set to rise again. When light, 
bake in a quick oven. 

NOVEMBER iith 

"Take a dejeune of muskadel and eggs." — Ben 
JONSON ("The New Inn"). 

TO make " egg wine," as it is 
called in the annals of old English 
cookery, beat an egg, mix with it 
a tablespoonful of cold water. Set on 
the fire a glass of muskadel, half a glass 
of water, a little sugar, and a grating 
of nutmeg. When it boils, pour over the 
beaten egg slowly, stirring well ; return 
it to the fire where it will not be too hot, 
stirring it one way, for not more than 
a minute. If it boils, or the egg is not 
fresh, it will curdle. 

NOVEMBER i2th 

"Oats for their feasts the Scottish shepherds 
give." — Gay. 

TO make a fine oatmeal caudle 
take three quarts of boiling water, 
add a pint of cold water into 
which has been stirred until smooth six 
198 



tablespoonfuls of oatmeal ; cook until it 
thickens, then season with a little salt, a 
dash of pepper, and sweeten to taste. 
Add a half pint of ale and a small wine- 
glass of gin. The old rule for this caudle 
tells us that it will be of " incalculable 
service " to the sick and weak. 



NOVEMBER 13TH 

"I myself, and not another, would eat her nice 
cake." — Charles Lamb ("Essays of Elia"). 

A PLEASANT and deceptive rem- 
iniscence of New England loaf 
cake is furnished by " no egg 
cake," which is a useful recipe for times 
and seasons when eggs are scarce and 
high. Cream one-half a cupful of but- 
ter with one cupful of sugar ; stir in a 
cupful of milk and one of raisins, stoned 
and dredged with flour ; flavor with a 
teaspoonful of vanilla, a little nutmeg, 
and a pinch of cinnamon ; at the last stir 
lightly in two and a half cupfuls of 
sifted flour in which is well mixed three 
teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Other 
flavoring may be substituted, or added, 
but a mixture of flavors is best. 
199 



NOVEMBER 14TH 

"What will this sister of mine do with rice?" — 
Shakespeare ("Winter's Tale"). 

RICE served as a vegetable is im- 
proved by browning in melted 
butter after it has been careful- 
ly cooked without stirring in a double 
boiler. If the rice is the excellent South 
Carolina variety it will come out when 
perfectly tender with every grain un- 
broken. Stir into it as lightly as pos- 
sible a tablespoonful of chives before 
browning. Heap on a platter and serve 
very hot. 



NOVEMBER 15TH 

"I have ordered twelve sorts of fish at the 'Pea- 
cock, ' my Lord." — Charles Reade ("Peg Wofl&ng- 
ton"). 

IN a collection of twelve fish the old- 
fashioned smoked sturgeon ought to 
have a place. Cut it in steaks about 
an inch thick and broil it over charcoals. 
Rub butter and lemon juice over it in 
liberal quantities and eat with hot muf- 
fins, fried potatoes, and watercress for a 
Sunday morning breakfast. 
200 



NOVEMBER i6th 

"I'm blest if he didn't bring master a plate 
of cabbitch!" — Thackeray ("The Yellowplush 
Papers"). 

THE delicate variety of cabbage 
known as Brussels sprouts is 
much improved by careful cook- 
ing. The sprouts should be thoroughly 
washed and then thrown into an abun- 
dance of boiling water and boiled for 
eight minutes ; then drained and thrown 
into cold water ; drain again and cook 
for fifteen or twenty minutes in a large 
cupful of boiling veal stock. Before 
serving add salt and pepper and two ta- 
blespoonfuls of cream, and pour the stock 
into the dish with the sprouts. 



NOVEMBER 17TH 

"There was a hot shoulder of mutton and onion 
sauce . ' ' — Thackeray. 

TO prepare onion sauce peel the 
onions and boil until tender ; 
drain, chop fine and add them to 
a rich white sauce, boil up once and serve 
with the meat. A turnip boiled with the 
onions, but not served, improves the 
flavor. 

201 



NOVEMBER i8th 

"If my Master has given me ten talents, my duty 
is to trade with them and make them ten talents 
more Not in the dust of household drawers shall 
the coin be interred — least of all will I hide it in a 
tureen of cold potatoes to be ranged with bread, 
butter pastry and ham on the shelves of the larder." 
— Charlotte Bronte ("Shirley"). 

A USE for cold potatoes, of which 
no one need speak slightingly, is 
to make them into a salad, alone 
or in combination. Slice rather thin six 
or eight good-sized potatoes ; add a tea- 
spoonful of chopped parsley, a table- 
spoonful of capers or chopped cucumber 
pickle, and marinade with three table- 
spoonfuls of vinegar and six of oil, a 
teaspoonful of salt, one-quarter of tea- 
spoonful of pepper, and one teaspoonful 
of onion juice. Set in a cold place for 
an hour or more. A little celery, cut in 
small bits, may be added and the onion 
omitted. Serve on lettuce leaves. 



202 



NOVEMBER 19TH 

"For the more genteel, 

Snipe, woodcock, partridge, pheasant, quail we'll 
serve." — W. Cartwright ("The Ordinary "). 

RUB the snipe inside and out with 
a wet cloth instead of washing. 
After scalding a minute in hot 
water, skin the lower legs, cut off the 
feet, skin the head, and remove the eyes. 
Wrap each one in a thin slice of bacon 
or salt pork and bake in a hot oven ; baste 
well with butter. Chop livers and hearts 
very fine, season with salt, pepper, onion 
juice, and butter; heat very hot, spread 
on small slices of toast, and place for a 
moment in the oven. Remove from the 
oven, pour over the toast the juice from 
the baking-pan, put the birds on the toast 
and serve hot. 

NOVEMBER 20th 

"Right glad he was to find a caldron full of gela- 
tinized beef soup." — Charles Reade ("It Is Never 
Too Late to Mend"). 

FOR beef soup the "top of the sir- 
loin" is excellent ; it is better than 
the round, as it has richer flavor. 
Whatever beef is selected, remove all the 
fat and cut it in small pieces. Barely 
cover it with water, let it boil up rapidly, 
203 



and then add cold water in tlie propor- 
tion of one quart of water to each pound 
of meat. Flavor it with a mince of car- 
rots, turnips, and other roots and herbs. 
When it has cooked one hour, add a scant 
cupful of well-washed rice. A cupful of 
stewed tomatoes, a few mushrooms, or 
almost any other vegetable may be added 
to beef broth to its improvement. If this 
broth has been properly cooked, which 
means being allowed to simmer for three 
hours, the meat will literally melt in the 
mouth, the fibre being thoroughly weak- 
ened and the nutriment well distributed. 

NOVEMBER 2ist 

" It was a glorious supper. There were kippered 
salmon, and Finnan haddock, and a lamb's head, 
and a haggis." — Charles Dickens ("Pickwick 
Papers"). 

FINNAN haddock or " haddie," as 
it is commonly called, makes an 
excellent plain dish for Sunday 
night tea as a "relish," or for break- 
fast served with eggs. Wash the fish 
thoroughly, leave in cold water half 
an hour, then bring to the boil in order 
to soften them slightly. Wipe dry, rub 
over with butter and lemon-juice, and 
broil fifteen minutes. Serve on a hot 
covered dish. 

204 



NOVEMBER 220 

"There were five mince-pies. Mr. Pendennis! 
You saw yourself there were five went away from 
table yesterday." — Thackeray ("The Newcomes"). 

THE following recipe for mince- 
meat has been used in one family 
for nearly fifty years, and three 
generations have sung its praises. The 
materials required are three large cup- 
fuls of finely chopped beef, boiled very 
tender ; six cupfuls of chopped apples ; 
one cupful of molasses ; one tablespoon- 
ful of cinnamon, one of allspice, and 
half a tablespoonful of cloves ; one nut- 
meg, grated ; two tablespoonfuls of salt, 
chopped peel of two lemons, two cupfuls 
of sugar, one quart of hard cider, juice 
and pulp of an orange and a lemon, half 
a pound of currants, half a pound of 
raisins, a quarter of a pound of sliced 
citron, a cupful of brandy. Mix all the 
ingredients together and boil them half 
an hour. Turn the mixture into a stone 
crock, cover with a white cloth tied down 
to exclude dust, and a tin cover or 
a plate on top of this. In a cool place it 
will keep for months. The pie-crust will 
be more wholesome, though less flaky, if 
made with butter in place of lard. 



205 



NOVEMBER 23D 

" 'Tis the sour sauce to the sweet meat." — Dryden 
("To Etheridge"). 

THE best tart sauce to eat with 
meat, particularly poultry, is 
made of cranberries. In one pint 
of cold water put one quart of the ber- 
ries ; cook slowly till broken to pieces, 
when they should be removed from the 
fire and put through a colander. Add 
the sugar, return to the fire, and cook 
just long enough to have the sugar dis- 
solve. 



NOVEMBER 24TH 

"Nothing but barons of beef and turkeys would 
go down with him, — to the great greasing and det- 
riment of his new sackcloth bib and tucker." — 
Charles Lamb. 

TO prepare a stuffed boiled turkey, 
mix with one quart of bread- 
crumbs half a head of celery, 
chopped fine ; two scant tablespoonfuls 
of salt, half a teaspoon ful of pepper, two 
heaping tablespoonfuls of butter, and 
two eggs. StufiF the turkey with this, 
sew up and truss. Wring a square 
cloth out of cold water and dredge it 
thickly with flour. Pin the turkey in 
206 



this and plunge into boiling water. Let 
it boil rapidly for fifteen minutes, then 
set back where it will simmer. Allow 
three hours for a turkey weighing nine 
pounds. Serve with celery sauce. 



NOVEMBER 25TH 

"One would not, like Lear, 'give everything.' I 
make my stand upon pig." — Charles Lamb. 

ALTHOUGH fewer people than 
formerly "make their stand upon 
pig," one form or another of 
pork is frequently used to make variety 
in plain bills of fare. An old-fashioned 
dish that still can count its appreciative 
partakers is "fried pork and apples," a 
very rich and palatable combination. 
Fry five or six slices of pork until about 
half done, then lift them out of the fat 
and put them in another frying-pan to 
finish cooking. To the fat in the first 
pan add thick slices of apples, cored but 
not peeled, and stew until tender. A 
more delicate dish is made by substitut- 
ing butter for pork fat and serving the 
apples with thin slices of broiled bacon. 



207 



NOVEMBER 26th 

" In after-dinner talk 
Across the walnuts and the wine." 
— Tennyson ("The Miller's Daughter")- 

BOIL together one cupful each of 
granulated sugar and boiling wa- 
ter for half an hour. Then dip the 
point of a skewer into the syrup and then 
into cold water. If the thread formed is 
brittle the syrup is ready. Do not stir, 
and boil slowly and steadily. When done 
set the kettle in boiling water. Take 
shelled walnuts on the point of a skewer 
and dip into the syrup, and lay on a 
lightly buttered dish to harden. 



NOVEMBER 27TH 

"We'll try whether Matthew or I shall get the 
largest cut of the apple-pie to-day." — Charlotte 
Bronte ("Shirley"). 

THE apple-pie of our grand- 
mothers was worth fighting over. 
These skilful ladies made a very 
short pie-crust of lard cut into sifted 
flour and wet into paste with ice-water. 
This they rolled out in a long, narrow 
strip, dabbed with butter, rolled to- 
gether, and, standing it on edge, rolled 
it out fiat again. For the upper crust 
208 



this process was three times repeated. 
They filled the pie heaping full with tart, 
juicy apples, sliced, and buttered the 
edges of the under crust before laying 
on the upper crust. When the pie was 
baked this upper crust was deftly lifted 
off and a lump of butter, some sugar, 
and nutmeg were stirred into the apple 
filling. The crust was replaced and the 
pie eaten. 



NOVEMBER 28th 

"'Ye might ha* made the parridge worse,* she 
said to Dinah; 'I can ate it wi'out its turnin' my 
stomach. It might ha' been a trifle thicker an' no 
harm, an' I allays putten a sprig o' mint in mysen; 
but how's ye t' know that?'" — George Eliot 
("Adam Bede"). 

A REALLY good porridge is not 
to be despised, either in sickness 
or health. If it is for an invalid 
the following rule is a good one : Wash 
a tablespoon ful of rice and boil in a pint 
of water for fifteen minutes ; add a pint 
of milk, in which a tablespoonful of flour 
has been stirred smooth ; mix the flour 
with two or three spoonfuls of the milk 
before adding it to the remainder. Cook 
for an hour in a double boiler, season 
with a teaspoonful of salt. The same 
209 



rule, with double the amount of milk, a 
dash of red pepper, and a little onion 
juice, makes excellent rice soup. 



NOVEMBER 29TH 

"At the sides was spinage, and pudding made 
hot." — Goldsmith. 

WASH with great care a peck 
of spinach, put into a sauce- 
pan with half a cup of cold 
water and cook for twenty minutes to 
half an hour after it begins to boil. Salt 
the spinach, then turn into a colander to 
drain ; mince fine. Heat a large table- 
spoonful of butter, stir into it a scant 
tablespoonful of flour, and when hot add 
salt and pepper and stir into the spinach ; 
when it comes to a boil add four table- 
spoonfuls of cream and stir constantly 
for a few minutes. Garnish with hard- 
boiled egg, and serve on slices of toast. 
This is a pleasant variation from the 
usual way of serving. 



210 



NOVEMBER 30TH 

"Our honest neighbour's goose and dumplings 
were fine." — Goldsmith ("Vicar of Wakefield"). 



T^ 



HIS undoubtedly was stewed 
■ green goose, which is almost as 
M delicate as spring chicken. A 
good recipe for a green-goose stew re- 
quires two of the young birds, which 
should be washed and cleaned and high- 
ly seasoned with salt, pepper, mace, and 
allspice. Put one bird inside the other, 
and press them as close together as pos- 
sible, drawing the legs inward. Put 
them in a baking-pan, with a cupful of 
water, spread a tablespoonful of butter 
over them and bake in a slow oven. The 
dumplings are raised with yeast instead 
of baking-powder, the dough being made 
as for bread, but with milk in place of 
water. Let it rise an hour before the 
fire, then make into balls the size of a 
small apple, and drop them into boiling 
water. Twenty minutes of fast boiling 
will cook them. On serving, tear each 
dumpling slightly apart with two forks, 
to let the steam escape and prevent their 
becoming heavy. 



211 



DECEMBER ist 

"Dame Best . . . has had soup and pud- 
ding from the Hall every day; and once she went 
so far as to say it was not altogether a bad pud- 
ding." — Charles Reade ("Peg Woffington"). 

A SOUP that is judged on its 
merits as to nourishing and ap- 
petizing quaHties, and not on its 
appearance, is a plain vegetable soup, 
whose base is a good stock made the day 
before it is needed of odds and ends of 
cooked and uncooked meats, allowing a 
quart of water to each pound of meat 
and bone. Cook slowly till the liquid is 
reduced about one-half ; set away to cool, 
and when quite cold remove the fat 
which will have risen to the top in a 
cake. Two hours before the soup is 
needed put the stock on where it will 
heat slowly and add to it a carrot chopped 
fine, two or three onions, tomatoes, cel- 
ery stocks or roots, green peas, or any 
convenient vegetable, with half a cup of 
well-washed rice. Season rather highly, 
and do not strain out the vegetables. 



212 



DECEMBER 2d 

"'Capital,' said he. His mouth was full of it; his 
face quite red with the delightful exercise of gob- 
bling. 'Mother, it's as good as my own curries in 
India.'" — Thackeray ("Vanity Fair"). 

PUT into a pan an ounce of butter, 
stir over the fire until it melts, add 
a teaspoonful of minced white 
onion ; when brown add a heaping tea- 
spoonful of curry powder, the meat from 
the tails of two boiled lobsters, the juice 
of half a lemon, a teaspoonful of browned 
flour, and a pint of clear soup stock or hot 
water ; simmer until it thickens ; add a 
saltspoonful of salt, and serve. This 
is a mild curry. 



DECEMBER 3D 

"A pasty costly made 
Where quail and pigeon, lark and leveret lay, 
Like fossils of the rock, with golden yolks 
Imbeddied and in jellied." 

— Tennyson ("Audley Court"). 

DRAW the quails and wipe them 
outside and in with a damp cloth. 
Put a raw oyster or two in each 
quail. Fasten slices of bacon, cut very 
thin, over the breast ; put them in a pan 
with a little hot water, cover closely, and 
cook twenty to twenty-five minutes, ac- 
213 



cording to the size, in a rather hot oven. 
Baste occasionally, and at the last un- 
cover for five minutes. Season with 
butter, salt, and pepper, and serve on 
squares of buttered toast moistened with 
gravy from the pan. 



DECEMBER 4TH 

"I'll make her a pudding, and a pudding she'll 
like, too. . . . Many a one has been comforted 
in their sorrow by seeing a good dish come upon 
the table." — Mrs. Gaskell ("Cranford"). 

A REASONABLY comforting pud- 
ding for a winter day, which re- 
quires, however, an appetite some- 
what sturdier than is expected of the 
sorrowful, is made by pouring over half 
a pint of fine bread-crumbs half a pint 
of scalding milk, adding, after an hour, 
four beaten eggs, a teaspoonful of flour, 
an ounce of butter, two ounces of sugar, 
half a pound of currants, an ounce of 
powdered almonds, half an ounce of 
shredded citron, the same of lemon peel, 
and a quarter of a teacupful of French 
brandy. Mix and tie tightly in a floured 
cloth and place in a buttered pudding- 
dish, that should be of a size precisely to 
fit it. Boil an hour. Serve with a hard 
sauce. 

214 



DECEMBER 5th 

"Clouted cream so seldom comes to London 
quite fresh." — Charles Reade ("Peg Woffing- 
ton"). 

EVERY housekeeper may have 
Devonshire cream on her own 
table if she will take the trouble 
to prepare it. Rich new milk is put in 
a very shallow vessel, which is set on the 
range, where the milk will be warmed, 
but on no account must it boil or even 
scald. The cream will rise to the sur- 
face in a short time, and the pan is then 
taken off and placed in the ice-box. 
When thoroughly chilled the cream may 
be skimmed, and it will be found very 
thick. Put it in a jar and use for cereals, 
berries, everything that ordinary cream 
is used for, its merit being that it is the 
richest of cream and also that it will keep 
for several days. 

DECEMBER 6th 

"He managed a couple of plates full of straw- 
berries and cream, and twenty-four little rout cakes 
that were lying neglected in a plate near him." — 
Thackeray ("Vanity Fair"). 

TO make the little rout cakes fa- 
mous in English literature since 
the eighteenth century, mix two 
pounds of flour, one of butter, one of 
215 



sugar, one of clean, dry currants ; wet 
into a stiff paste with two eggs, a table- 
spoonful each of orange-flower water, 
rose-water, sweet wine, and brandy ; 
drop on floured tin plates and bake in a 
quick oven. 

DECEMBER 7th 

"She wrenched from her brow a diamond and 
eyed it with contempt, took from her pocket a sau- 
sage and contemplated it with respect and affection." 
— Charles Reade ("Peg Woffington"). 

IF one likes the flavor of sausage, but 
finds it rather too "porky" as it comes 
from market, an easy expedient is to 
buy the best sausage-meat obtainable — 
not the links — and add to it as much 
more lean chopped beef ; make into cakes 
and cook thoroughly in a very hot pan, 
turning often not to burn. 

DECEMBER 8th 

"Maria is ready for you now in the kitchen, Mrs. 
Morrell, the onions have come." — Bernard Shaw 
("Candida"). 

THE susceptibilities of the poet 
might endure even the small red 
onions of the Morell household if 
they were boiled tender and served with 
216 



a sauce of unthickened cream, seasoned 
with a dash of red pepper and a little 
chopped parsley. 

DECEMBER qth 

"The shepherdess who lives on salad." — Gay. 

IF the shepherdess was as buxom and 
rosy as most of the old poets make 
her, she probably took care to have 
her salads substantial ones. This, a 
favorite with a physician renowned for 
his gastronomic wisdom, would answer 
her purpose: To a pint of cold, sliced 
potatoes add a tart apple sliced, a dozen 
slices of cold boiled beets, a few flakes 
of smoked herring-, a small pickle sliced, 
a teaspoonful of capers, and a little 
chopped parsley. Mix with an ample 
quantity of mayonnaise dressing. 

DECEMBER ioth 

"With corn to make your needy bread. 
And give them life whom hunger starved half 
dead." — Shakespeare (" Pericles "). 

AVERY nourishing corn bread is 
made with a cupful of cornmeal, 
two cupfuls of cold boiled rice, 
one cupful of milk, one egg, half 
217 



a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of 
sugar, butter the size of an egg, and a 
teaspoonful of baking powder. Mix 
cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder 
together; add the other ingredients after 
melting the butter and putting the rice 
through the colander. Bake half an 
hour. 



DECEMBER iith 

''And a large chestnut, the delicious meat 
Which Jove himself, were he a mouse, would eat." 
— Cowley ("Poems")- 

ROASTED chestnuts of the French 
or Italian variety are most satis- 
factory. Before cooking cut a 
slit in each nut ; put them in a saucepan 
with just enough boiling water to cover 
them, boil thirty minutes. Drain and 
put in a hot oven for ten minutes and 
serve in a folded napkin. Pass salt with 
them. Care must be taken not to let the 
chestnuts cool after boiling before put- 
ting in the oven. 



218 



DECEMBER i2th 

"A Welsh Rabbit a la cave an cidre." — Thacke- 
ray ("A Legend of the Rhine"). 

PUT in the blazer of a chafing-dish 
half a teacupful of Bass's ale and 
bring- it to the boiling point. Add 
two pounds of rich American cheese, 
grated, stirring constantly ; season with 
six teaspoonfuls of dry mustard and a 
shake or two of cayenne pepper. When 
it is smooth and creamy pour over hot 
toast. An egg beaten up and stirred in 
after the cheese has melted will prevent 
curdling, but if the cheese is of the right 
sort this will not be necessary, nor need 
the usual precaution of cooking the rab- 
bit over hot water be taken. 

DECEMBER 13TH 

"Tea was made downstairs, biscuits and baked 
apples." — Jane Austen ("Emma"). 

CORE and peel tart apples and bake 
in a porcelain-lined dish with half 
a cupful of water until they are 
transparent. Place them in a glass dish, 
fill the space left by the cores with 
whipped cream. Stick the apples closely 
with blanched almonds, and surround 
them with sugar and whipped cream 
flavored with maraschino. 
219 



DECEMBER 14TH 

"Tea and coffee were there; a jug of water for 
Hewson." — Arthur Hugh Clough ("The Bothie 
of Tober-na-Vuolich"). 

A CAFE frappe, very simple to 
prepare and satisfactory to par- 
take of, is made by adding to one 
quart of black coffee one pint of whipped 
and sweetened cream. Turn into a 
freezer, pack in salt and ice, and allow 
it to stand for an hour and a half. Serve 
in tall glasses. 



DECEMBER 15TH 

" On one side of the table two green sauce-tureens, 
. . . were setting next to each other in a green 
dish; and on the other was a curried rabbit, in a 
brown suit, turned up with lemon." — Charles 
Dickens ("Sketches by Boz"). 

SKIN the rabbit, clean it and divide 
in convenient pieces. Fry a slice 
of onion in butter ; when brown put 
into the pan the pieces of rabbit, salted, 
peppered, and dredged with flour. Cook 
quickly for a few minutes, turning over 
often so that all parts may be seared. 
Cover with cold water, add parsley, sage, 
or any other herb whose flavor is liked, 
pepper and salt. When cooked tender 
220 



take from the pan and keep hot while a 
gravy is made by adding- butter, flour, 
catsup, and a dessertspoonful of curry- 
powder. Mushrooms are an improve- 
ment also. At the end add a glass of 
claret. Pour over the meat. 



DECEMBER i6th 

"The beans and bacon set before 'em." — Pope. 

TO prepare " Isle of Shoals Baked 
Beans " soak over night one quart 
of white beans in barely enough 
water to cover them ; boil in same water ; 
add to the water two tablespoonfuls of 
molasses. Put the beans in a deep 
earthen pot, place in the centre a gener- 
ous piece of salt pork, with the rind, cut 
in strips, above the beans. Bake in a 
moderate heat for twenty-four hours. 
Two hours before serving give them a 
brisk heat. Serve hot in the pot. At the 
last baking add a little water from time 
to time if they seem too dry. 



221 



DECEMBER 17TH 

"A little piece of salmon cut out of the fish's 
centre." — Charles Reade ("It Is Never Too Late 
To Mend"). 

WASH and dry a slice of 
smoked salmon and broil slowly 
for twelve or fifteen minutes. 
Place it on a hot dish and spread over 
it a sauce made of a quarter of a cup 
of butter into which has been stirred half 
a teaspoonful of salt, a little paprika, and 
one tablespoonful each of chopped pars- 
ley and lemon juice. 

DECEMBER i8th 

"They call for dates and quinces in the pastry." 
— Shakespeare ("Romeo and Juliet"). 

TO make a date pudding soak in 
a cupful of milk a cupful of bread 
crumbs free from crusts ; beat in 
two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of suet, 
chopped very fine ; half a cupful of sugar, 
a saltspoonful each of salt and cinnamon, 
and a little nutmeg. Chop a cupful of 
dates and figs, dredge with a heaping 
tablespoonful of sifted flour and stir into 
the pudding. Beat hard for two or three 
minutes, pour into a well-buttered mould 
and steam for three hours. Eat with a 



hard sauce, well flavored with nutmeg 
and brandy or sherry. 

DECEMBER iqth 

"Venison, the red and the roe, with mutton; and 
grouse succeeding." — Arthur Hugh Clough 
"The Bothie of Tober-na-VuoHch"). 

CLEAN, wipe, and lard the legs 
and breast of grouse. Rub well 
with butter, dredge with flour, sea- 
son with salt, and cook in a quick oven 
for thirty minutes if liked well done ; 
twenty or less will be enough if liked 
rare. 

DECEMBER 2oth 

"I had rather have a handful or two of dried 
peas." — Shakespeare ("Midsummer Night's 
Dream"). 

THE best use to put dried or split 
peas to is to make soup of them. 
Soak a cupful over night ; put on 
to boil in three pints of fresh water, add- 
ing more as it boils away, so as to keep 
about three pints in the kettle. Stir often 
to keep from sticking to the sides of 
the kettle. When thoroughly soft put 
through a strainer and return to the fire. 
Stock, milk, or cream may be added to 
make it the consistency preferred. Add 
to the strained soup while boiling a ta- 
223 



blespoonful of butter which has been 
melted and blended with one of flour ; 
when it has all simmered ten minutes 
season with salt and pepper and serve. 
To many tastes this soup is greatly im- 
proved by adding to the water a ham- 
bone. 

DECEMBER 2IST 

"Mushrooms, thought I, are better than these 
tasteless truffles, and so ordered a dish to try. You 
know what a Provenfal sauce is?" — Thackeray 
("Memorials of Gormandising"). 

MOST American cooks do not 
know what a Provencal sauce is. 
Wash, peel, stem, and fry half 
a pound of fresh mushrooms. Remove 
from the pan. Put two or three raw 
mushrooms chopped fine, a clove of gar- 
lic, two chopped shallots, and two table- 
spoonfuls of oHve-oil in the frying-pan, 
stir in while cooking a teaspoonful of 
flour, add half a pint of white wine and 
as much stock, two sprigs of parsley, 
one of thyme, half a bay leaf, salt and 
pepper, simmer about half an hour, 
strain, and pour over the fried mush- 
rooms. If garlic is objected to, onion 
can be substituted, but garlic carefully 
used has the more delicate flavor of the 
two, and one that is slowly gaining favor 
in America. 

224 



DECEMBER 220 

" Certainly Savarin could not have lived in a 
country farm upon endives and mallows." — Bxh-wer 
("Parisians")- 

A MODERN confection in high 
favor among school girls and oth- 
ers is marshmallow penoche ; to 
make it boil together two cupfuls of 
brown and one of white sugar, one cup- 
ful of milk, and butter the size of an egg ; 
flavor with vanilla. Stir while cooking, 
which will take about twenty minutes ; 
try by putting a little in water and if it 
balls readily it will be cooked enough, 
and you must then add a dozen soft 
marshmallow candies and beat thor- 
oughly. Just before pouring into but- 
tered plates, stir in a cupful of walnuts. 



DECEMBER 23D 

"At breakfast time when clippers yearly met, 
Fill'd full of furmety, where dainty swum 
The streaking sugar and the spotting plum." 
— John Clare. 

FURMETY was of old favored in 
having two days when it was 
especially appropriate to serve it — 
" Mothering-day " and Christmas — and 
for the tray of the invalid unable to eat 
225 



the traditional plum pudding it was a 
not unacceptable substitute. 

To two cupfuls of milk add four cup- 
fuls of water and bring to the boiling 
point ; add a level teaspoonful of salt 
and half a cupful of " pearl " or whole 
wheat. Stir constantly until it boils, then 
place in the upper part of a double boiler, 
the lower part of which is filled with 
boiling water, and cook for three hours. 
Serve with sugar, cinnamon, cream, and 
stewed prunes. 



DECEMBER 24TH 

"I went and got the best goose I could find (I 
don't think I ever saw a primer or ate more hearty 
myself), and had it roasted at three." — Thackeray 
("Dogs Have Their Day"). 

A GOOSE should be roasted longer 
and basted oftener than other 
poultry. Twenty-five minutes to 
the pound is none too long. For the 
stuffing mix bread crumbs and pulverized 
chestnuts, seasoned with salt and pepper. 
A green goose is one under four months 
old, and these are decidedly preferable 
to the older fowls. Gooseberry sauce is 
an appropriate accompaniment. Apple 
sauce is also orthodox. 
226 



DECEMBER 25TH 

" In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered — ilushed 
but smiling proudly — with the pudding, like a 
speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in 
half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and be- 
dight with Christmas holly stuck into the top." — • 
Charles Dickens ("The Christmas Carol"). 

STONE one pound of raisins and 
add to them one-half gill of brandy, 
the grated rind of an orange and a 
lemon, one ounce each of candied lemon 
and orange peel and two of citron ; one 
pound of clean currants, a quarter of a 
pound of almonds, blanched and pounded 
to a paste ; a pound of suet, chopped fine 
and rubbed with four tablespoonfuls of 
flour ; one teaspoonful of salt, a nutmeg, 
and one pound of fresh bread crumbs. 
Mix well and add a gill of sherry. Cover 
closely and stand in a cool place for a 
day. Just before boiling add eight eggs, 
well beaten, and enough cream to mois- 
ten, not enough to make soggy. Stir 
hard and pour into buttered moulds 
which have been dusted with flour ; press 
pudding well into the mould to within 
two inches of the top. Put buttered 
paper on top, cover closely, and steam 
ten hours. It should be kept at least a 
month before using and steamed two 
more hours before serving. Do not open 

227 



mould until ready to serve, when brandy 
should be poured over the pudding and 
lighted. Brandy sauce or rum sauce 
should be the accompaniment. 



DECEMBER 26th 

"The poor little partridge was soon a heap of 
bones — a very little heap." — Thackeray ("Me- 
morials of Gormandising"). 

CUT the meat from the breast of 
a partridge, put the bone, together 
with the wings and legs, into a pan 
and cover with water. Add one small 
onion, a stalk of celery, a bit of whole 
mace, and a little salt and cayenne pepper, 
and boil until the liquor is reduced to 
a pint, then strain. Fry the breast meat 
in hot butter; after the meat is taken 
out of the frying pan add to the but- 
ter two tablespoonfuls of flour. Rub 
smooth ; pour in the broth from the 
bones, boil until of a creamy consistency, 
pour over the meat and serve. 



228 



DECEMBER 27TH 

"And as for the turkey and celery sauce, you 
should have seen how our host dispensed it!" — 
Thackeray ("Memorials of Gormandising"). 

CELERY sauce gives to boiled tur- 
key a delightful flavor. To pre- 
pare it heat in a saucepan a table- 
spoonful of butter, and as it melts slowly 
add a heaping tablespoonful of flour, 
stirring constantly. When thoroughly 
blended, pour in a pint of milk and keep 
steadily stirring until the sauce is smooth 
and thick ; season with a saltspoonful of 
salt and a dash of pepper and the juice 
of half a lemon ; stir in a cupful of 
chopped stewed celery, allow it to boil 
up once, and serve. 



DECEMBER 28th 

" A cup of hot wine with not a drop of allaying 
Tyber in it." — Shakespeare ("Coriolanus"). 

IN Roman days they may have served 
their wine hot, without a drop of 
water, but for a century or more the 
English rule for "mulled wine" calls for 
some "allaying" fluid. A large cupful 
of water should be boiled with a piece 
or two of stick-cinnamon and some 
229 



grated nutmeg; take out the cinnamon, 
pour in a pint of port or sherry, add 
sugar to your taste, heat up once again, 
and it is ready. 



DECEMBER 29TH 

"Pray does anybody here hate cheese? I woulc 
be glad of a bit." — Swift. 

A DISH which few men will hate 
is made by adding to one-quarter 
of a Camembert cheese a piece 
of butter the size of a large horse-chest- 
nut and a dash of paprika. Mix well 
with a pliable knife on a plate which has 
been rubbed with a clove of garlic. Re- 
move the rind from the cheese before 
mixing with the butter. 



DECEMBER 30TH 

"Immense reduction in eggs — only one shilling 
each! ! 1" — Charles Reade ("It Is Never Too 
Late To Mend"). 

AT the price of a shilling apiece 
one may be sure eggs will be used 
singly, not in battalions, and the 
way to make the most of one would per- 
haps be to convert it into an eggnog. 
Beat the egg in a glass till very light 
230 



with a tiny pinch of salt ; when light add 
two teaspoonfuls of sugar and a glass of 
sherry, grating a little nutmeg on top. 
A very good temperance eggnog is made 
by adding the juice of a lemon in place 
of the sherry. 



DECEMBER 31ST 

" Christmas Day was at his elbow, plying him 
with wassail -bowl, till he roared." — Charles 
Lamb. 

THE following recipe for wassail 
punch is that used in one of the 
oldest literary clubs of New York, 
and the punch is served there on every 
New Year's Eve. Put into two quarts 
of boiling water a small bag of allspice 
and leave it for two minutes. Take it 
out and add to the water two quarts of 
apple brandy and about a pound of 
baked sweet apples cut in pieces. Serve 
the punch very hot, keeping it over a 
spirit-lamp to prevent its cooling. It 
may be sweetened to taste by adding 
more or less syrup made by boiling sugar 
and water together, as for preserving 
syrup. 



231 



INDEX 



Almonds, salted, i6. 
Anchovies toast, 66. 
Apples, baked, 189. 

with maraschino, 219. 
Apple fritters, 166. 
Apple popover, ss- 
Apple puffs, 186. 
Apples, with walnuts and 

cream, 160. 
Apricots, frozen, 47. 
Arrow-root, 60. 
Asparagus toast, 88. 
Bacon and greens, 12. 
Bacon and liver, 13. 
Bacon and mushrooms, 65. 
Bacon, broiled, 55. 
Barley-water, 180. 
Beans, baked " Isle of Shoals," 

221. 
Beans, lima or kidney, 122. 
Beans, puree of, 195. 
Beans, stringed, 98. 
Beef conserve, 94. 
Beef, "dry deviled," 138. 
Beef, roasted for slicing cold, 

115- 
Beef steak, with sharp sauce, 

15- 
Beef-steak pie, 32. 
Beef steak, rib, with sauce, 

74- 
Beet-top greens, 103. 
Biscuit, hard, 109. 
Blackberry sherbet, 136. 
Bread, corn, 218. 

home made, 197. 
Bread, New England brown, 

50. 
Bread, pulled, 162. 
Brussels sprouts, 201. 
Butter, sweet, 65. 
Cabbage, creamed, 188. 
Cafe frappe, 220. 
Cake: angel, 81; cheese, 20; 

cream layer, 75; crullers, 

161; delicate, 113; fruit, i; 

gingerbread, 57; hermits, 

137; jumbles, 117; currant 

jumbles, 46; macaroons. 



189; "no egg," 199; nut, 4; 
nut wafers, 191; raisin, 159; 
"rout," 215; seed, 70; spice, 
125; tea, 84. 

Caledonian tritle, 128. 

Candy: brown sugar fudge, 
40; marshmallow peno^he, 
225; marzipan (march- 
pane), 63 ; walnut cream, 
185; walnuts, crystallized, 
208. 

Carrots, browned in butter, 80. 

Cauliflower, scalloped, 25. 

Cecils, 160. 

Celery, au gratin, 178. 

Celery-root, stewed, 48. 

Chard, Swiss, 133. 

Cheese: Camembert, 230; 
Cheshire and wine, 77; cot- 
tage, 42; cream, 92; cream 
with nuts, 85; Spanish, 18; 
Welsh rabbit, 219; Welsh 
rabbit, baked, 196. 

Cheese-cake patties, 141. 

Cheese-cakes, old English, 
146. 

Cherry bounce, 149. 

Cherries: brandied, 120; 
pickled, 119; sugared, 116. 

Chestnuts, roasted, 218. 

Chicken; deviled, 77; fricas- 
see, 23; maitre d'hotel, isi; 
Maryland, 118; pillau, 141; 
with bread sauce, 45. 

Chops, chafing-dish, 29; Eng- 
lish mutton, 83. 

Chocolate, 75; blanc-mange, 
10. 

Claret-cup, 99. 

Cocktail, egg, 154. 

Codfish, salt croquettes, 4. 

Codfish tongues, 192. 

Coffee, old-fashioned, 139; 
percolated, 102. 

Corn-meal mush, 130. 

Corn pudding, 142. 

Crabs, soft-shelled, 174. 

Crumpets, 175. 

Cucumber picldes, 170. 



233 



Cucumbers, stuffed, 156. 
Curds and whey, 90. 
Currant and raspberry tarts, 

I2S- 

Custard pudding, 4p. 

Custard with sauce, 132. 

Damson preserves, 150. 

Date pudding, 222. 

Devonshire cream, 215. 

Duck, stewed, 96. 

"Dulcet cream," 46. 

Dumplings, raised, 211. 

Eels, fried, 128. 

Egg cocktail, 154. 

Egg-nog, 230. 

Eggs: baked, 176; boiled, 54; 
fried in oil, 67; rum ome- 
lette, 130; sausage omelette, 
13; stuffed with ham, 172; 
"sur le plat," 82; with 
cream, 25; vdth olives, 100. 

Egg wine, 198. 

Fig pudding, 21. 

Fig whip, 184. 

Finnan haddie, 204. 

Fowl, wild, with sauce, 167. 

Frogs' legs, fried, 168; patties, 
135- 

Fruit, crystallized, 173. 

Fruit-patties, 64. 

Furmety. 225. 

Goose, roast, 226; stuffed with 
goose, 2H. 

Gooseberry tarts, 124. 

Ginger cream tarts, 53; pre- 
served, 169. 

Grape juice, 164. 

Grouse, roasted, 223; stewed, 
182. 

Halibut steak New Orleans 
style. 38. 

Ham, boiled, 27; deviled, 85. 

Hedgehog trifle, 187. 

Ice-cream, ginger, 109. 

Kidneys, broiled, 165; deviled, 
59- , , 

Lamb chops, breaded, 135. 

Lamb stew, 121. 

Lampreys, Worcester, 187. 

Lemon jelly, 84. 

Lemon pie, 21. 

Lemon tarts, 78. 

Lemonade, 143. 

Lettuce: baked, 93; steamed, 
69. 



Liver and bacon, 13. 
Liver in ramakins, 127. 
Lobster and almond patties, 

57- 
Lobster and mushroom pat- 
ties, I. 
Lobster, cooked in butter, 86; 

curry, 213. 
Macaroni, with tomato sauce, 

171. 
Mackerel, salt, 112; soused, 

162. 
Maraschino ice, 86. 
Marrons glaces, 69. 
Meat pie, old English, 11. 
Mince meat, 205. 
Muflins. huckleberry, 123; old 

English, 91; quick, 28; 

raised, 136. 
Mush, corn-meal, 130. 
Mushrooms : broiled, 6; stewed 

in wine, 109. 
Mutton: boiled, 35, 147; ke- 

bobbed, 68; roast haunch of, 

si; stuffed, no. 
Musk-melon, with ice cream, 

140. 
Oatmeal caudle, 198. 
Onions: baked Spanish, 56; 

boiled, 216; pickled, 166. 
Orange Charlotte, 66. 
Oranges, crystalUzed, 43. 
Oyster cocktail, 17. 
Oysters: Fried, 22; roasted, 

154; scalloped, 44; stufl&ng, 

179. 
Pancakes, 31; French, 196. 
Partridge, fried, 228. 
Peas, stewed with mint, in. 
Peach marmalade, 163 
Peaches, pickled, 153. 
Peppers, stuffed, 33. 
Perch, 148. 
Pie, apple, 208. 
Pigeon pie, 5; roast, 42. 
Pineapple sherbet, loi. 
Pistachio ice cream. 28. 
Pork: fried, 38; vdth apples, 

207; tenderloins, 190. 
Porridge, plain, 209. 
Potatoes: baked stuffed, 64: 

baked mashed, 59; fried 

mashed, 34; scalloped, 158; 

soufl36, 16. 
Prunes, 51. 



234 



Pudding: bread and fruit, 
214; brown bread, 58; jam, 
145; nesselrode, 18; plum, 
237; sago-aream, 30. 

Puffs, apricot, 89. 

Puff-paste, 24. 

Punch, fruit, 129. 

Quail, roasted, 214. 

Kabbit: mock, 49- roasted, 
172; stewed, 220. 

Raspberry brandy, 123; 
mousse, 119. 

Ratafia cream, 37. 

Redsnapper, boiled, 73. 

Rice, browned, 200. 

Rolls, dinner, 3. 

Rum punch, 14. 

Russian cream, 76. 

Salad: celery 9; chicken, 108; 
chicken and cheese, 71; 
chicory and radishes, 147; 
cucumber, 127; cucumber 

E reserved, 152-, dressing, 
oiled,!so and 131; dressing, 
mayonnaise, 82; eggs, 142; 
lobster, 87; lobster, with 
plain dressing, 106; mac^- 
aoine, 139; medley, 217; 
musk-melon, 158; onion, 
114; onion flavoring for, 
177; potato, 202; water- 
cress, 83; veal, 120. 

Salmon: Loaf, 29; pickled, 
144; smoked, 222; with hol- 
landaise sauce, 117. 

Sandwiches: almond and 
(Team, 68; club, 19; nastur- 
tium, 178. 

Sardine paste, 37. 

Sauce: Bearnaise, 148; butter, 
9; butter melted, 126; cel- 
ery, 229; Chili, 157; cran- 
berry, 206; currant jelly, 
193; egg, 175; for roast pig, 
179; marrow-bone, loo; 
mint, 72; mustard, 133; 
mustard No. 2, 26; onion, 
164; onion white, 114, 201; 
parsley, 114; proven^al, 
224; sharp, 183; strawberry, 
93; tomato, 52. 

Scallops, fried, 180. 

Shad, planked, 61. 

Shad roe, 97. 

Sherbet, tea, 95. 



Shrimps, creamed, 79. 

Snipe: stewed, 194; roasted, 
203. 

Sole, fried, 7. 

Soup: arrowroot, 95; aspar- 
agus, 107; au vin, 20; bar- 
ley, 22", faouille baisse, 60; 
cabbage, 72; clam chowder, 
31; clear, 173; consomme, 
S; crab, 134; flour, 52; 
lettuce, 155; pea, 223; pep- 
per-pot, 191; i la reine, 
40; sorrel, 116; tapioca, 11; 
vegetable, 212; white bean, 
184. 

Spinach and bacon, 12. 

Spinach and tongue, 70; 
creamed, 210. 

Strawberries: a la Savarin, 
in; au naturel, 87; in 
wine, 96; preserved, 103. 

Sturgeon, 200. 

Sweetbread fricassee, 98. 

Syllabub, Staffordshire, 39. 

Tartines, Boston, 181. 

Tea, French, 186. 

Terrapin, imitation, 177. 

Toast, brown bread, with 
cream, 88. 

Tomatoes: Fried, 145; stuffed, 
168. 

Tongue and spinach, 70. 

Tongue, boiled, 129. 

Tripe, fried, 151. 

Trout: broiled, 122; fried, 
90; fried in oil, 104. 

Truffles, 44. 

Turbot, 41. 

Turkey, boiled, 206. 

Turkey pie, 188. 

Turkey, truffled, 8. 

Txu-nips: fried, 77; ptareeof, 
182. 

Tutti-frutti, 106. 

Veal and ham pie, 105; No. 
2, 144. 

Veal: braised, 62; cutlet, 80, 
loi; fillet of, 113; pie, 91; 
roast loin of, 124. 

Venison: pie, 156; ragout, 
194; steak, 193. 

Walnuts, pickled, 170. 

Washington pie, 36. 

Wassail, 231. 

Wine, mulled, 229. 



235 



AkR 6 VU06 



